Digimon: World Break
by bouncyerbear
Summary: The core of all digital worlds is in danger.  Only the children chosen by its roots can stop the chaos from spreading out to all worlds.  Will they be able to do it when so much more is at stake?  A multiseason Xover from Adventure to Frontier era.
1. Episode 1: Chance Encounters, part 1

Author's Note: Welcome to my first piece of long-chapter fanfiction in a long time. I am excited to be writing again especially for a series I love so much. I hope you enjoy it as well. I don't want to waste your time with a long note but I did want to ask that you enjoy my fic and know that I have a lot of fun things in store for the characters involved. Elements from all digimon series might be involved at some point, but note that the focus is on Adventure through Frontier. Any digimon used can be found on the digimon wikia if you are curious about learning more or want to get a better idea of what they look like.

Otherwise, enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>(Prologue)<strong>  
>Yggdrasil, the ultimate being in the digital world, does not just occupy one digital world. There are few that know the secrets of Yggdrasil, but legend has it that Yggdrasil stretches through multiple digital worlds, connecting them together and maintaining the order within them all. Most digital worlds are somehow connected to a human world as well and that is part of what makes each digital world just as unique as each human world. While there have been attempts to breech the barriers separating these multiple worlds, the repercussions of such actions would be far too great. Of course, there are some digital worlds that have synced with human worlds, allowing for crossing...but if two digital worlds or more were to collide with one another the results would be catastrophic. There is one such being, however, that seeks to break these barriers and throw all of time and space into the primordial chaos from which it rose: ZeedMillenniummon.<p>

The two beings have been at odds for ages and while Yggdrasil has kept the dark being in check for this long, ZeedMillenniummon has manipulated events in countless digital worlds to slowly, but surely, weaken Yggdrasil. Some of these events may, in fact, be familiar to you. The evils that have risen in any number of digital worlds can ultimately be attributed to ZeedMillenniummon's doing. Like several chinks in a wall, the barriers between the various digital and human worlds are crumbling and it is only a matter of time before all fall to Chaos.

* * *

><p><strong>(Episode 01: Chance Encounters, part 1)<strong>

It was like old times at least that was what Takato thought as he pulled the goggles over his face and headed into the digital field just outside the park. Guilmon was at his side and his digivice was already in his hands ready to see what digimon had surfaced into the world this time. Granted, nothing really seemed like a threat after dealing with something like the D-Reaper half a year ago, but a digimon could still tear through Shinjuku like it was a hot knife through butter. Digimon were dangerous and wild (most of the time), but Takato had also learned they could be friends as had most of the people Takato associated with, even HYPNOS.

Six months. Takato still couldn't believe it had been that long since his dealings with the digital world, not to mention he'd only gotten Guilmon back three months ago. That had been a trial in and of itself, but he was happy to have his old friend again and, he imagined, so were the other Tamers. Takato didn't feel as though he'd changed much in that time. Sure he was a little taller and starting a new grade in school, but otherwise he was still very much the same dreamer and happy-go-lucky guy he was before.

"Okay, boy. What do we have this time," Takato asked as he pulled his goggles back up now that he was inside the actual field. There was nothing he could see out of the ordinary but Guilmon's nose was known for sensing Digimon faster than Takato could see them. Guilmon had sensed the digital field forming in the middle of their walk back home. As usual his eyes had dilated and he had gone stiff, sniffing at the air before telling Takato what was happening. Now, they were here and Guilmon was still looking a little stiff, ready for the attack. "Don't know. Smells big though Takato," was Guilmon's reply.

Takato looked down at the digivice in his hand. So far it wasn't showing anything either, except an arrow moving back and forth without settling on anything, basically it's default mode if there were no digimon to identify. The boy sighed, "Come on. A digital field doesn't just appear for no reason." He thought briefly of calling Rika or Henry but that would have been silly, he and Guilmon could handle anything. Of course, maybe for old time's sake he should. But Rika would probably just ask him if it was worth her time and, now that he thought about it, Henry was supposed to be in martial arts class. "It's not even a very big digital field, is it," Takato asked, still being a little cautious but otherwise starting to relax.

That changed, however, when something huge and dark swept over the digital field like a shadow. Something not quite solid was moving around and a split second later Guilmon was growling, his pupils nearly pinpricks, "Takato." It was a warning voice. Something big was coming and Guilmon was telling him to be ready. The Digital field started to shimmer, parts of it looking like fuzz on a bad television and other parts blinking out. Takato wondered if it was collapsing when suddenly his mind was overwhelmed by the sound of buzzing static getting louder and louder, "Aaah!" He cried out, clutching at his ears as he dropped to one knee. Strangely, though, it didn't seem to be affecting Guilmon who was suddenly over his tamer, eyes round with worry," Takato? TAKATO!"

The pitch was getting higher. How could Guilmon not hear that? "G-guilmon. Run," Takato said, hoping his partner would understand that he needed to get to Rika or Henry or SOMEONE.

The red monster only nuzzled at Takato, trying to get him to stand up. Takato wasn't sure if it was the sound making him black out or if the Digital Field was actually getting darker. He wasn't awake long enough to see as his eyes glazed over and he fell forward onto Guilmon. "TAKATO!"

When he came to again the digital field was gone. Instead he was greeted with a large red nose sniffing at his face and then suddenly a full-force hug from a large digimon, "TAKATO IS AWAKE! TAKATO IS OKAY!"

Still groggy, Takato groaned and pushed a little at Guilmon, "Hey...come on Guilmon get off." Guilmon obliged and released the tamer, taking a step back before circling Takato and sniffing at him. This gave Takato a chance to look around. At first he thought that Guilmon had somehow taken him into the park to rest, as he was surrounded by trees and grass. Upon closer inspection however Takato realized that the trees looked very foreign and almost tropical. Some of the underbrush too was strange. There were regular bushes mixed in with plant life that had strange stripes and exotic, large flowers; besides that there were clearly no park benches or paths anywhere in sight. Takato had been all over the park and would have recognized it if there was a spot like this. He brushed his pants off as he stood up, "Uh, Guilmon, where are we?"

"Don't know. It kinda smells like the Digital World."

Takato about fell over at that response. While he had had a sinking suspicion that that might be the case, it was another thing to hear it out loud. How had they come to the Digital World? It had been so difficult the last time they'd done it and this time they just magically showed up? Something wasn't right about all of this. Takato stepped closer to Guilmon, looking around nervously. Oh, but wait, if this was the Digital World then he should be able to see the real world in the sky. Takato looked up and frowned, "A-are you sure Guilmon? Cause that sky doesn't look like the one I remember." Guilmon sniffed the air and then sneezed once, "Guilmon thinks so, but it smells different too."

Odd, was all Takato could think. How was it possible that this smelled like the Digital World but wasn't? The sky that wasn't blocked out by the leaves of trees was a bright and colorful hue of rainbow light. He couldn't see a sun or moon or even the round orb that should have been the Real World. No, this was a strange sky to him and, apparently, Guilmon as well. He eventually sighed, shoulders slumping, "Great. So we have no idea where we are other than it _might_be the Digital World."

"Sorry Takato." Guilmon's ears drooped. He wanted to be helpful to his friend, but he was clearly just as lost as Takato.

Takato smiled weakly at his partner, putting a hand on the red digimon's head, "Don't worry. We'll figure it out. We just need to find someone to ask. Preferably someone friendly." He knew all too well that if they were in the Digital World that not all the monsters would cooperate. Still, why should he worry as long as he had Guilmon with him? "Come on," he said, setting off in a random direction. Guilmon's tail swished back and forth before he followed as well.

"Where should we go Takato?" Guilmon asked after they had walked for some time. It looked like they were very deep in the forest and he had no idea which way they should be going. Neither of them was familiar with this Digital World at all, if it was that, and so far Takato hadn't picked up any sign of digimon. Takato pulled out his digivice and started pushing buttons at random.

"You would think this thing would have some kind of map function or something." Granted, if this wasn't his Digital World then how could he be sure that the map would be accurate at all.  
>He wasn't sure which direction he should head in, but he needed to start somewhere. Suddenly an idea occurred to him and he turned to look at Guilmon, "Hey is there any water nearby? Maybe we can find someone else looking for water, I mean, that's an essential kind of supply, right?"<p>

Guilmon sniffed the air. He didn't know about it being "essential" but if Takato said so then he would do it. It didn't take Guilmon long to find the smell of water in the air and he turned away from the path they were on, pointing with his claw, "This way Takato!"

It didn't take them long to find their way out of the forest and just ahead Takato could see the rainbow colored sky reflecting on the water of a large lake. At least the lake was a normal shade of blue underneath all of that reflected light on the surface. Just as he was about to step out of the covering of the forest Guilmon froze and lowered his head, growling. "Uh oh, what is it," Takato asked, stopping to look at his partner. Unfortunately, before either could react, Guilmon was pinned to a tree by several arrows of ice. Takato jerked in shock but was soon also pinned to another tree, the ice arrows ripping through his shirt as it pinned him to the tree. "Hey! What the heck!"

From the line of trees near the lake several rabbit-like digimon emerged. They had been hiding in the shadows and was each pointing more arrows at the pair. Takato could just barely move his hand but he managed to tilt it up to look at the reading on his digivice. It took it a few minutes but then the holographic screen popped up with an image of one of the rabbits, under which read "Lekismon."

Takato couldn't recall a digimon of that name in the card game but, then again, it wasn't like he had every single digimon memorized. The digivice said they were Champion levels but Takato couldn't help but think they looked kind of on the small side for that level. The Lekismon were only a few feet taller than Takato, not including their rabbit-like ears. Each of the Lekismon had metal masks on their faces and a moon stamped on the armor over their chests. Most of them had reddish pink eyes and a theme of purple and pink coloring on their fur. Several of the Lekismon still held arrows of ice, poised and ready to shoot again.

One of the Lekismon, this one had blue eyes and a chipped ear, stepped forward, clearly she was the leader of the group and she eyed Takato with disdain, "We have found another trespasser of Apollomon."

The other rabbit archers nodded but Takato just struggled against the arrows pinning him to the tree, "What? No. I don't even know who Apollomon is!"

The lead Lekismon frowned at him and pointed at Guilmon, "You carry with you one of his minions, a creature of fire. Such trespassing is forbidden in the forests' of Dianamon, even if he is a beast type."

"But Guilmon doesn't know Apollomon either," Takato protested.

Ignoring him the Lekismon turned to her comrades, "Bind him with the other prisoner. We will have great news for Mistress Dianamon tonight." The group of archers parted and made way for a small group of different digimon who carried a boy and his digimon in chains.

The new digimon were also rabbit-esqe, but also reminded Takato of prairie dogs. He wasn't far off, either, as his digivice informed him that these were called Prairiemon, an armor-type digimon with claws that looked like they could cut through many things. Takato easily recognized the digimon in chains, however, as a rookie level Wormmon. He didn't know who the boy was though. The boy gave Takato a sympathetic look as he was pulled down from the tree by the Lekismon. The Lekismon dragged Takato over to the Prairiemon and immediately chained him up with the other boy.

Meanwhile, more Lekismon were trying to get Guilmon down from the tree but he was stuck to the tree by the ice arrow and he was growling in both pain and to defend himself from the digimon. Takato realized this when he heard Guilmon howl in pain and anger and he whipped back around, "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

Guilmon and the Lekismon ignored him as Guilmon's mouth heated up with fire before releasing a blast of a fire ball directly into the bodies of two of the Lekismon. The two Lekismon flew backwards from the blast and Takato was surprised the attack hadn't deleted either of the digimon. He felt like it should have, after all even at this level Guilmon had a powerful attack and had deleted champion levels before. There was little time to worry about that though because the two Lekismon were severely injured and immediately the other Lekismon retaliated, taking aim with their ice arrows. Takato struggled against his chains, lunging for his digimon partner, "Guilmon! Stop!"

Everyone listened to him this time, pausing in their actions: Guilmon to look at Takato while the Lekismon turned to their leader. The lead Lekismon scowled and turned on Takato, "Get him in check before we return him to an egg...though he will pay later for his attack on my subordinates."

Guilmon's ears flattened against his head and his eyes went from being dilated to looking wide and sad, "Guilmon is sorry, but you were hurting me and Takato." His head lowered, Guilmon padded over to Takato, nuzzling against him in apology. The chains on Takato's wrist clanked together as the boy reached up and pat his head, even as another Prairiemon came forward to clamp chains on Guilmon. The lead Lekismon seemed to think this was not enough and brought out another piece of equipment and Takato gasped as he realized it was a muzzle.

"No! He'll be fine! Don't put that on him!" Takato protested. However, it was in vain as Lekismon was already clamping it onto Guilmon's snout. Guilmon struggled a little but he knew Takato would just be mad if he attacked again, so he let it happen. Takato sighed, it pained him to see Guilmon chained and muzzled, more so than being in chains himself. The chains were tugged and Takato realized he needed to start walking as the Lekismon filed into their ranks to keep the boys and their digimon from running.

After they had been walking for a bit the other prisoner turned and gave Takato a small, half-hearted smile. "That was brave. What you did for your digimon, I mean."

Takato, who had been watching his digimon this whole time, finally turned away and returned the smile, also half-hearted. The other boy was about his age and had long, straight black hair. He was a bit on the pale side and wore a baggy white shirt and black pants. "It didn't help much though, did it?" Takato finally said.

"You stopped him from hurting more of the digimon at least." The boy was trying to look on the bright side, but it was hard to do that while in chains being marched to who knew where. He sighed and then held up a chained hand, "I'm Ken," he paused and gestured with his head to his digimon who was now hitting a ride on Guilmon since he couldn't walk as fast, "and that's Wormmon. What's your name?"

"Takato...and that's Guilmon." He paused and then decided to ask, "So is this your first time in the digital world?"

Ken hesitated, looking back at Wormmon as if asking him what he should do. If Wormmon had a suggestion he didn't give it and Ken just sighed, his shoulders dropping, "No, it's not. But Wormmon and I don't think this is the same Digital World we're used to. I'm guessing you've been to the digital world before?"

Takato wasn't sure what to make of Ken's reaction to the question. It was innocent enough wasn't it? Yet, he'd acted like his first experience wasn't all that great. Takato thought about his own experience and realized that his wasn't all that great either. Maybe that's it, he rationalized, and Ken just didn't have a good first experience. "You figured that out too? Guilmon said it smelled like the Digital World but that it was different, plus you can't even see the Real World from here."

"What do you mean? You couldn't see the Real World in the Digital World's sky."

"Uh...huh," Takato paused as something occurred to him, "You know, maybe WE'VE been to different Digital World's too. How does THAT even work?"

"I don't know. The Lekismon wouldn't answer my questions when I asked about this one. They just told me that I should be quiet and wait for Dianamon's judgment," Ken explained, looking back at his partner.

Takato blinked, "Hey that reminds me. Why DID they capture you? I mean, Wormmon's not a fire type digimon."

Ken didn't stop walking but he did take a moment to figure out how to answer that question. It hadn't really made sense to him either but he got the feeling that more was going on here than just a random hatred for certain digimon elements. "Well, it's strange really…" Ken thought back to what had happened before he had woken up here and proceeded to tell Takato the series of events:

He had been walking home from cram school early that evening, they sun having not quite set but was barely high enough to pierce through the large buildings of the city. Ken liked this time of day because as he walked home he could focus on his own thoughts and unwind from school or soccer practice. He felt good, the best he had in months now that the Digital World was calm and the incident with the Kuramon safely in the past. He'd actually been able to focus on his studies, was almost retaining his status as the 'boy genius' at his school, and Wormmon was waiting for him safely at home for the evening meal.

Things were great and that should have been the first clue to Ken that they were about to change. It had happened quickly at least. One moment everything was fine and then, just as he was nearing his train station, his digivice had started flashing and making strange noises. It had startled him but before he could access it the noise grew louder and more high pitched, turning from an annoying beep to screeching static noise, the kind you get with microphone feedback in a speaker. Before he had blacked out completely he had noticed strange lights in the sky.

"And then I woke up on the shore of the nearby lake with Wormmon and several Lekismon surrounding us. They told me that I was trespassing and that despite the fact that Wormmon was allowed here he was in the company of a man-type digimon." Ken paused as he realized what he'd just said, his gaze refocusing on Takato, "I don't think they've had humans before…so I'm guessing they think we're strange digimon and that's another type they don't like."

Takato nodded, filing away more of this information. So they were against fire type and the man-type digimon. Wormmon was okay so that meant insect digimon were allowed in the forest and, based on the Lekismon and Prairiemon, beast type digimon were also allowed. "Well, my experience was pretty similar. My digivice made a sound like that too and when I woke up I was with Guilmon."

"I noticed this earlier, but your digivice is a different model. May I see it?"

"Sure," Takato said. The chains were loose enough that he was able to get the digivice out of his pocket and hold it up for Ken. Ken examined it curiously as they walked before slipping his own hand in his pocket and producing a black and grey model, very different from Takato's gold and white one. Takato blinked, "Where do you swipe the cards through?"

"What cards?"

At first Takato thought he was joking and almost laughed, but then he saw that Ken was legitimately curious. Did he seriously not know about the Digimon card game? How was THAT even possible? Takato could just imagine Kenta and Kazu giving Ken a hard time about that. They'd probably make some remark about Ken living under a rock. "You know. The digimon card game. You can use the cards to modify and boost your partner's stats in a battle," Takato explained, even as he reached behind him and pulled a few cards out of his back pocket. If it was possible Ken looked even more surprised when Takato showed him the handful of cards.

Ken studied them, recognizing some digimon he had encountered and actually pausing when he came to a Stingmon card. It had the attacks on it and everything. As he examined it something began to occur to Ken and he looked back at Takato, "Uhm…Takato. I think it may be more than just multiple Digital Worlds out there."

"What do you mean?"

The other boy held up the Stingmon card, "There isn't a game like this in my world. If there was, I know one of my friends would have mentioned it to me by now, even if I hadn't noticed it myself. Besides, there are a growing number of individuals getting digimon but I don't think the phenomenon has become wide spread enough to warrant a card game." Plus, there was still very much a bad stigma with digimon, given the events in the past that both new and old Digidestined had experienced. Ken shook his head, "It sounds impossible, but I guess with the existence of multiple Digital Worlds it's not hard to imagine there might be multiple human ones as well." Thinking about that made him remember that weird Dream world and the Dark Ocean…maybe there were more like that out there as well.

Takato looked surprised by this news but after he gave it a moment's thought it did make a bit more sense. "This is getting really weird," Takato muttered as he put his digivice and cards away. Ken held out the Stingmon card to him but Takato shook his head, smiling, "You keep it. That's Wormmon's evolved form, right?"

Ken smiled kindly at Takato and thanked him for the gift. He could only imagine the responses he would get from Davis and the others when he showed them THIS. He looked back at Wormmon again, knowing he'd have to show the bug digimon the card at some point as well.

While their conversation had made the walk more enjoyable it didn't completely distract them from the matter at hand. Neither boy was really keen on the idea of escaping if it meant hurting the Lekismon. Besides, they both had a sense that this was just a big misunderstanding that could be sorted out as soon as they reached whoever this Dianamon was. It didn't take them long either because apparently they had landed just down the shore from an impressive looking fort. It was made of wood and logs like a fort from ancient times, only it was clear that this wasn't old but relatively new and very much in use. Ken spotted more Lekismon at some of the corners, perched on towers with arrows trained.

They were led into the fort and somehow it was even more impressive past the outside walls. Several storage buildings and huts lined this part, but further out Ken could see tents and huts that were made more for dwelling in and shops. Lekismon and Prairiemon were not the only digimon milling about either. It was not a large town or anything but certainly had with it a variety of beast-type digimon living together. Ken tried to get a better look at a large structure in the center of town but he was shoved into a building before he could.

The building wasn't that impressive and in fact didn't seem to have anything at all in it, until he noticed the hole. The hole led down into a series of tunnels and Ken realized belatedly that they were being led to a prison beneath the fort. It also reminded Ken of a rabbit's burrow underground but he decided to keep that to himself. They walked a little further before one of the Lekismon stopped and pulled aside one of the cell doors, heavy and made of wood.

Another Lekismon removed the chains as they pushed Ken and Takato into the cell but not before taking any items they had, including their digivices. The worst part, however, was when they started to leave with Guilmon and Wormmon still in chains.

"Wait! Where are they going," Ken cried out, rushing forward towards the door. He pulled up short when he found the end of a blade of ice poking towards his neck.

The Lekismon leader glared at them, "We will not allow you to conspire against us. We are taking these two to separate cells." She glared and looked down at Guilmon, "Besides, this one needs a special case that he cannot free himself from." There was a gleam there that Takato did not like.

"Please," Takato said in a soft voice, "Please don't hurt Guilmon."

For a moment the Lekismon looked surprised by this turn. Two of the Lekismon exchanged looks behind their leader's back but her own expression did not change. Instead of responding she slammed the heavy cell door closed and led Guilmon, Wormmon, and the two Lekismon away.

Takato collapsed on a nearby straw-stuffed mat. He looked defeated as Ken turned away from the door to examine their cell. There were two mats in the room and Ken realized that the fact that there were only two beds was probably another reason the digimon were being kept elsewhere. The cell was bare otherwise except for a bucket of water in one corner near the door and a spot in a far back corner for…other business. Ken's eyes fell on his new friend and Takato met his gaze, looking up, "Now what?"

Ken thought for a moment before sighing. He wanted to stay optimistic like Davis would have but it was just impossible. He was never one to look on the bright side of things, even if Davis had started to infect him recently. Instead, Ken joined Takato on the mat, sitting with his back to the wall, "I don't know, Takato. I guess we wait and see if Dianamon will believe our story or not. Even if this is a different kind of Digital World, they should still have legends of humans or even encounters with them in the past, right?"

There was no answer that Takato could give. Ken had said himself that he didn't think the Lekismon had ever seen humans before so who was to say that Dianamon had? Besides, even if they did convince Dianamon that Ken and he weren't human-type digimon what good would that do Guilmon? Guilmon would still be a fire type and he wasn't sure that just because they had no idea about Apollomon that Guilmon would be spared. He had attacked some of the Lekismon after all. 'Guilmon, I hope you behave. We can't get into any more trouble,' he thought, a silent prayer directed at his digimon. Ken fell silent as well, wondering if there was any way to get out of this at all.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p> 


	2. Episode 2: Chance Encounters, part 2

**Author's Note**: Thanks for the kind reviews everyone. I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate them and would like to give a shout-out to my friends at the digimon tumblr blog who advertised this and Shara Raizel who inspired me to start writing a mega crossover like this.

Consider this a bonus chapter as originally it was part of Chapter One but then I decided to let Takato and Ken just have their own focus when it started getting too long. Starting now updates will happen every Thursday (as long as I have a chapter written ahead of time) and since this is technically Thursday I will count it.

Please enjoy and I appreciate you taking the time to review.

* * *

><p><strong>Episode 02: Chance Encounters, part 2<strong>

"Taaaaai! Taaaai! Come on Tai, wake up!"

"Huh?"

Between the line of trees and the edge of a pristine lake a boy was laying sprawled out on the grass. His hair was bushy and brown and was no longer held back by the goggles he had once worn so proudly. The rest of his outfit was similar to what he had worn as a kid though: a blue button up shirt with orange stars on the sleeves, a long sleeve orange shirt underneath, and black jeans. Comfortable for traveling in, but he hadn't exactly planned for this.

His brown eyes fluttered open and didn't notice the lake OR the forest because he was busy staring up at the rainbow colored sky whose light seemed to constantly shift and change. Tai sat up immediately as his brain started to process this information. If he didn't know better he'd swear those were the same lights that took him to the digital world all those years ago. Tai closed his eyes, rubbed them, and then looked up again just to be sure. And, what do you know; the lights were still in the sky.

Tai frowned, not sure of what to make of the strange sky. It was then that his brain caught up to the other thing he had noticed upon waking: the voice. Tai whipped his head to his left to find Agumon squatting next to him, poking him with one of his claws in an effort to wake him. "Agumon? What's going on? Where are we and how did we get here?"

This was probably too many questions for the relatively simple-minded digimon to handle but the orange dinosaur put a claw to his chin in thought, "Well Tai, I think it might be the Digital World. It has the same kind of scent but," he hesitated, sniffing the air again, "but it smells different too. But I don't know how we got here either way Tai. After all, we weren't even together a few minutes ago but when I woke up you were sleeping under that pine tree over there." Agumon pointed at the tree, just on the edge of the forest and almost on the edge of the water. Apparently Agumon had moved him a bit so that he would be more out of direct sight. Tai had to give him credit for thinking ahead but there were still some things that were bothering him.

Agumon was right though. The last thing Tai remembered was lacing up shoes after an intense round of soccer practice. It had been try-outs for the position of captain and Tai had felt good about the results. Granted, he wouldn't know what those results were until the coach posted them up a few days later, but that didn't stop Tai from grinning like an idiot as he changed back into normal clothes and out of his soccer uniform.

He could remember getting up from the bench inside the locker room when he'd heard his digivice start to make strange noises. It wasn't beeping like it normally might, but making a high pitched screeching noise that at first was just annoying but soon grew louder and louder until it became unbearable. He had clamped his hands over his ears and he could have sworn the glass nearby shattered in the process. Unfortunately, that was about the moment he blacked out...and woke up here with Agumon.

"Okay. How can it smell like the Digital World and not be the Digital World, you're not making any sense buddy." Tai paused and realized what he'd just said, amended the statement, "Granted, none of this is making sense because I wasn't anywhere near a computer nor was Davis or any of the others around." Tai was mostly talking aloud but he still looked to his partner for answers. When Agumon only stared back and shook his head, unable to answer any other questions, Tai reached back into his pocket and produced his digivice.

The small, grey apparatus was strangely silent and unresponsive now. It was a good thing, too, because that noise had been unbearable. Tai frowned in thought before deciding to check on a whim and see if the map function would let him know if any of the other Digidestined was nearby. It was a long shot, but surely if something weird had happened to him, then the others wouldn't be too far behind. At first the digivice remained unresponsive, the screen blankly staring back at Tai, but then when Tai was just about to wonder if it was broken it flickered and vibrated in his hand. "What the-"

Okay, another strange reaction from the digivice...that wasn't good. Tai stared at it with wide eyes as it continued to supposedly malfunction before suddenly stopping and showing a map of Tai's surroundings in a crude, 8-bit fashion. Tai let out a sigh of relief and looked over at Agumon, "I thought it was about to explode there for a minute."

"Me too. It's never done that before, has it Tai?"

"Not that I remember. Then again, it's been acting funny a lot today." Okay, so he only had one example, but given the fact that it was a big one Tai was going to count it anyway.

The orange dinosaur digimon stared up at Tai's hand, trying to get a look at the screen. He could remember a time when Tai had been more equal with his height and this would have been easy. But, he supposed he couldn't stop Tai from growing up. "Huh. Well, what's it saying now Tai?"

Tai looked back down at the screen and was surprised to find a nearby blip of a digivice already. He smiled and looked back up at Agumon, "Hey! It looks like we may have some assistance after all. Come on!" For now, all of the strangeness was forgotten as Tai hurried to track down his friend, whoever that might be. He angled the device and realized that the other presence was coming from just down the shore of the lake. Tai took off running but had to slow down once he realized his much longer legs were carrying him faster than Agumon could run. 'Easy does it Tai, you still don't know where you are...it'd probably be a good idea to stick close to Agumon,' he thought to himself. He waited for Agumon to catch up before setting off again.

Despite Agumon's short legs, they still kept a fairly brisk pace and they were around the bend of the lake before they knew it. Tai looked down at his digivice and back at the shore they were now on but he didn't see any sign of anyone. "Agumon? What gives? Is this thing seriously broken now?"

Agumon, however, was staring passed Tai at the lake. He pointed, "Uh...Tai...what's that?"

"Huh?" Tai turned to find that the waters of the lake rippled and then burst upwards as a pair of Seadramon and a Megaseadramon rose out of the lake. Tai jerked backwards in surprise, but then he noticed that the Seadramon were much more focused on the digimon that one had wrapped tightly in his tail.

Tai had never seen this digimon before. It was humanoid, for starters, and had a helmet that was reminiscent of a wolf's head, with a lot of the patterns on its armor and clothes reminding him of Garurumon, all white and blue. The mysterious digimon cried out in pain as the Seadramon holding it tightened its grip on him. The Megaseadramon made a sound that Tai could only decide was laughter at the mysterious digimon's fate. It was all way too familiar, reminding Tai of a time when Matt had suffered a similar fate. None of the digimon in the lake had noticed Tai or Agumon yet...but they were about to because that was about the moment Tai snapped back to his senses and stormed forward, holding his digivice out, "AGUMON!"

Agumon rushed forward, expecting to turn into Greymon, but as he passed Tai, he realized nothing had happened. Tai was just as shocked as Agumon and frowned, looking down at the digivice in his hand, "Come ON what is wrong with this thing!"

"Tai! Watch out!" Agumon slammed into Tai in the nick of time, driving them both to the ground as one of the Seadramon opened its mouth and blasted at Tai with its Ice Blast attack. It struck a tree instead and was instantly coated in ice crystals. Agumon rolled off of Tai and flames started to appear in his mouth, "Pepper Breath!" The fire ball flew at the Seadramon and struck it in the face but that only seemed to irritate it more.

Tai scrambled to his feet. This was not good, this was REALLY not good. He didn't see any control spires around and that would have been impossible anyway because they had destroyed every single one of them. But Tai couldn't figure out any other reason Agumon shouldn't be able to digivolve. He couldn't even turn into Greymon! He looked back up as Agumon launched another Pepper Breath at the Seadramon, both of them knowing it wasn't going to help at all.

The Seadramon hissed at Tai and lunged forward. However, there was a flash of light and suddenly the Seadramon was stopped dead in its tracks by the wolf-warrior digimon holding up a light sword to block its mouth. At first Tai wasn't sure how he had managed to escape or get in between the Seadramon and Agumon, but when he looked past the wolf-warrior he saw the second Seadramon disintegrating into data before turning into an egg and plopping back down into the water. This digimon, whoever he was, had taken out the Seadramon that had captured him using Tai and Agumon as distractions.

That was one down, but there was still a Seadramon and a Megaseadramon left. The wolf-warrior digimon pushed against Seadramon, forcing it back, before launching himself into the air and towards the two serpentine digimon. It landed first on Megaseadramon's head which immediately set that digimon off. It thrashed around and the Seadramon swam forward to aid its kin. However, that was what the wolf-warrior digimon wanted to happen and he leapt backwards onto the Seadramon and howled, "Licht Sieger!" The light cut clean through the Seadramon, forcing it to turn back into an egg as well.

Megaseadramon roared again, eyes locking on to the wolf-warrior digimon as he landed back on the lake shore. Tai hadn't moved a muscle and Agumon was standing protectively in front of him, blocking him from further attack. The digimon looked over his shoulder at the two and frowned under his face mask/helmet, "You two need to get out of here! You can't handle this!"

"No time! Watch out!"

Lightning crackled around Megaseadramon's horn as he charged his own attack. The digimon defending Agumon and Tai turned back around, "Not so fast!" He launched himself forward again and in the blink of an eye had actually lopped off the metal horn. It fell with a splash into the lake, causing Megaseadramon to cry out in pain. However, the attack was not without its flaws as the digimon received a nasty shock when it made contact with the horn. Tai winced at the cry of pain and then watched in horror as the warrior digimon slumped and fell from the Megaseadramon's head, clearly unconscious.

The Megaseadramon went down, though, sinking back into the lake and returning everything to the calm it had been before. The other digimon crashed into the water with a large splash and Tai and Agumon rushed towards the lake's edge. "Tai! I don't think he's coming back up."

Tai scanned the surface of the lake. He thought he saw a bright flash of light and he took a cautious step back. It could be Megaseadramon lurking beneath the surface, about to return for more. A few more seconds passed and suddenly the surface of the water broke, but it wasn't the Megaseadramon returning but nor was it the digimon warrior either. Instead, it was a boy who Tai knew for a fact could NOT have been hiding under water that long. The boy had long dark hair tied back in a ponytail, his wet bangs clinging to his face. His bandana was striped and Tai could see he was wearing a blue jacket as his arms flailed about and he tried to swim. It was then that Tai realized he was very disoriented and, without thinking, slipped out of his shoes and dove into the lake.

"Tai!" Agumon called from the shore as his friend swam out. He couldn't do anything, however, as Agumon was not known for his water rescue abilities. Agumon was more worried about the Megaseadramon coming up on the boys as Tai helped swim them back to shore, but nothing happened. He didn't relax until they were both safely out of the water though. The strange boy and Tai gasped for air on the shore, clothes soaking wet, but at least they were alive. "Uh, Tai, I think he's about to-," Agumon made it just in time to catch the boy as he pitched forward, eyes rolling back in his head as he passed out.

* * *

><p>The dream he had was a scattered one. He heard the roar of Megaseadramon that slowly dissolved into the bellows of a train coming down the tracks. A bright flash of light and his digivice flickering in and out of existence. There was a voice and a boy with weird fluffy hair and then the feeling of electricity coursing through his body. Finally there was water, and darkness, and then nothing.<p>

He woke up next to a crackling fire and without his jacket. The boy sat up, hand immediately going for his pocket, before settling down to take a minute and assess the situation. His head turned and he found that the fire was being manned by the fluffy headed boy from earlier and Agumon. The boy, Tai if he remembered hearing the name, noticed first and smiled, "Hey, you're awake. Hope you don't mind but we started without you."

The boy blinked, wondering what he was talking about, but then realized that Tai was cooking up some fish on a stick. He hesitated before deciding against it and just reached for his jacket instead, pulling it on, "Thanks. But I'm fine. I had lunch before I got here."

Tai smiled, he recognized that attitude almost immediately. "Yeah, well, I've been in the Digital World before...you eat when you can or you're in trouble." That caught the boy's attention and he turned to look at Tai fully in the face. He studied him for a moment before glancing at Agumon and then just laughing. Tai was a little surprised by that reaction and lowered his fish, "What's so funny?"

"There is no way you survived in the Digital World with just HIM as a companion," the boy replied, pointing at Agumon.

Tai's digimon was not pleased with this and, apparently, neither was Tai because he frowned slightly. Agumon, however, was able to defend himself and piped up, "Hey! I can take care of Tai just fine!"

"That didn't look like just fine to me back there," the boy replied, jerking his head towards the lake. The boy paused and then turned his head towards the lake. He remembered now that he had passed out. He hadn't meant to, but the attack had taken a lot out of him, more than he realized. Someone had pulled him out of the lake. The boy lowered his head and sighing, "Though...I guess I do owe you for pulling me out of the lake back there." He paused before adding, "I'm Koji."

"Name's Tai and that's Agumon," Tai replied, the frown fading into a distant memory. He leaned back on one of his hands, giving Koji a look-over for himself. "Although, you're one to talk about protection. Where's your partner digimon?"

Reaching for a fish Koji shrugged, "You mean like your Agumon? Don't need one."

It was Tai's turn to laugh. "Oh, come on, there's no way you just magically appeared in that lake, not with all those thrashing Seadramon. You would have been killed." Something started to nag at the back of Tai's mind; something about the appearance of the boy and the disappearance of the digimon warrior he had seen fighting the serpents. However, the notion was just so ridiculous that he immediately rejected it.

"You're right; I didn't magically appear in the lake. I changed back into a human in the lake." Koji said it casually as he blew on the fish, but it caused Tai and Agumon to stare at him like he'd just grown a second head. Koji looked up at the two, "What? I couldn't hold my digimon form, that's all."

Tai opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head, "No way. There's no way that's possible. What you're saying would mean that you were not human before you turned back into one. It would mean that YOU were that wolf warrior fighting earlier."

Koji smirked but didn't look up from his fish, "Lobomon, yeah. And you're sitting next to a talking dinosaur, don't tell me what's impossible."

"You have to admit, Tai, he has a point there," Agumon replied, not helping.

Tai's eyebrow twitched and he whipped his eyes back to Agumon. "How can you believe him? No one has ever just TURNED into a digimon before. That's crazy!"

"You can believe me or not," Koji began, biting into the fish even as he spoke. "But ask yourself where that warrior digimon went. You know as well as I do that there was no way he just disappeared into the lake, the Megaseadramon wasn't THAT strong, plus I came up in the exact spot he dropped."

Well, Tai was pretty sure he could argue about that Megaseadramon's strength, but the more he thought about it the more it just seemed like the truth. And, well, there were examples of digimon that turned into humans, Mummymon and Arukenimon, so why was this so hard to believe? Tai chewed on his fish with a pensive look on his face. This had to be the craziest thing he had ever heard of but there it was, staring him right in the face.

Koji finished his fish quickly and stood up, hands slipping into his pockets, "Well, thanks again, but I need to get going. My friends are probably out there somewhere and I need to find them." He gazed off into the forest and Tai could tell immediately that he was thinking about said friends.

Tai lowered his head for a moment, "Yeah, I was looking for my friends, too. My digivice didn't pick up anything though and I'm starting to wonder if it's working at all." Tai pulled the little digivice out again, holding it in his hands like the last of a life line. He didn't know what he'd be able to do if Agumon couldn't digivolve. Why would whatever power that brought him here do it if he couldn't help though? It made no sense.

"Your what?" Koji asked, suddenly sounding surprised for once.

"This. A digivice. I saw a signal on it coming from another one and thought it might be my friends." Tai held it up so that Koji could see it clearly. It was small and rather unimpressive, but it did seem to have two blips blinking on its screen.

Koji stared at it for a moment before sighing and pulling out a strange, elongated piece of tech that was black and blue, "You mean this?"

Tai stared at the very different digivice for a moment before looking down at his own. Sure enough the signal from before was standing right in front of his own blip. This time it was Tai's turn to groan, "Why didn't I notice that sooner?"

"Beats me. Yours looks really different though...but if it doesn't turn you into a digimon then what DOES it do?" Koji was legitimately curious. As far as he knew the digivice was only a tool to house the spirits he used to change forms. He only had six examples of this of course but the one in Tai's hands looked so small and plain.

Tai sighed, he felt even MORE useless now which a few hours ago he didn't think was possible. "It's supposed to help me evolve Agumon into his higher levels, but it's been acting funny since I got here. Apparently all it's good for now is a Digidestined detector."

"Aww, Tai, I'm sure it's something we can figure out. We won't be out of the fight forever," Agumon said in an attempt to cheer his friend up.

"Yeah," Koji replied, "Besides, you said you were missing friends too, right? Well let's use that thing to find your friends AND mine. As far as I know my digivice only detects the legendary spirits."

Their words cheered Tai up. He knew he'd have to figure out Agumon's evolution problem eventually, but maybe the others were having issues too. He had to find them first though. Tai pushed himself up, finishing off the last fish as he threw his stick off into the lake. "All right, but it'll probably be dark soon. We'll cover as much ground as we can before setting up camp."

Koji didn't typically like taking orders but he nodded. It was a sound plan after all and since they had just eaten he could probably go for a while without stopping for camp. He would find Takuya and the others. He couldn't explain it, but he just knew they had to be out there somewhere and Tai was apparently his best bet at it.


	3. Episode 3: Chance Encounters, part 3

**Author's Note:** Welcome back to episode 3 of Digimon: World Break. Thank you all so much for the reviews and hopefully some of your questions might be answered in this chapter. Not much else to say here except I feel a little bad about not writing much for Veemon in this chapter. Hopefully he can shine in another chapter though! That said, please enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Episode 03: Chance Encounters, part 3<strong>

"WHY! AM! I! ALWAYS! LATE!" Takuya yelled as he burst out of the house and took off running down the road. It was a familiar scene, almost identical to one that had taken place exactly a year prior, when he had raced against the clock to board a mysterious train to the digital world. Not much had changed in that year, Takuya still wore the goggles and hat he had worn back thing along with the reds and yellows that were his trade-mark style. Sure, he'd gotten a little taller, though Koji managed to rival him in the height department right now. At least he hadn't let his hair get as long as Koji's yet, though his mom was starting to pester him about getting it trimmed.

Fortunately this time he wasn't late for anything life changing, unless you counted a one year reunion he and the others had scheduled as life changing. Takuya had gotten so wrapped up in completing the final level of his new video game that the time had just slipped away. He mentally cursed himself. It was hard enough finding a time where all 6 of them were free at the same time, he should have been paying more attention. "And now Zoe is going to kill me," he groaned, pushing himself to make it to the intersection before the light changed.

Zoe was the one who had set all of this up and was way better at getting the boys together than Takuya or Koji would have been. Sure, sometimes they would hang out without planning far in advance, but if they wanted to get everyone together the group tended to rely on Zoe to do it, because she was much better organized than any of the others. Plus, she was persistent enough that even Takuya had trouble forgetting the date because Zoe knew better than to leave it up to him to remember. Except, this time, he HAD forgotten and now she was surely going to end him.

Takuya jogged in place as the light refused to change colors. He was so focused on the light that he didn't realize his phone was vibrating like crazy until the light actually did change. Takuya pulled it out of his pocket as he darted across the road and promptly froze in the middle of the street when he saw the screen. It was so unexpected that he nearly dropped his phone. Time froze as the reality of it sank in and Takuya realized that the symbol glowing on his screen was the one Ophanimon had used when she had called for his help. "O-Ophanimon?"

A horn blared from a car causing him to jump nearly a foot in the air. He looked from the cars and trucks revving to go and then to the light which was back to being a hand telling him to stop walking. "Crap. Sorry!" Takuya shouted as he darted the rest of the way across the street. Safely on the curb, he looked back down at his phone only to find that the mysterious symbol was gone and his screen simply showed the date and time again. The time which was at least 10 minutes past when he was supposed to meet with his friends, "Double crap." Chalking up the appearance of the symbol to his brain hallucinating or being too nostalgic for the events a year ago, Takuya started running again. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and thus, didn't notice when it flickered into a familiar red and black digivice briefly before returning to a normal cell phone.

Finally, Takuya made it to the station. He had just missed the last train but he knew another one would arrive shortly. As he stood waiting he tried thinking up a good excuse to give Zoe when he came up late. He was surprised she hadn't sent him a text yet but apparently she knew him well enough to know that even his running late was probably just an inevitability. Now that he thought about it, he'd only shown up on time once for one of these get togethers so, by now, Zoe probably planned around that.

He sighed and pulled out his cell phone again to check the time. His hand touched something, but it certainly wasn't his cell phone. "Huh?" Takuya blinked and pulled it out. It was a familiar shape and in no way possible. He stared in disbelief at the digivice now in his hand and as if pulling it out triggered the event, suddenly every electronic device in the area started freaking out. Lights flickered and flashed, various devices beeped and vibrated, but Takuya's eyes were only focused on the impossible thing in his hand. It wasn't until the digivice started to flash with a bright light that he realized something big was about to happen. The light grew brighter and brighter and, with it, a strange noise started to come from it as well. It was a high pitched squealing sound that caused Takuya's ears to throb with pain. Everything was so intense that he was completely caught off guard when something large, heavy, and blazing with heat slammed into him. Takuya pitched forward but instead of falling onto the tracks he fell into darkness.

He had no idea how much time passed, as he had lost all sense of, well, everything. Eventually, however, Takuya sat up, reaching under his hat to rub at his head, "Man. What hit me?" he muttered. Takuya looked around at the clearing he had woken up in. It was a little too wild to be a park, bushes and undergrowth curling up and around the numerous trees surrounding him. He also didn't see any clear paths or benches. The trees towered over him and he tried to see the sky but all he could make out was the light filtering down through the trees. At least it was still day time, but that still didn't answer the question of where he was. Actually, he did sort of have an idea of where he was...just not the specifics.

In an effort to confirm this he reached into his pocket once more and pulled out his digivice. He wasn't at all surprised to find it there, not after seeing it at the train station. Unlike at the station, however, it was dead silent. He had to wonder though...was it just the digivice that had returned to him or was there more to it than that. He hesitated for a moment before pushing a button and scrolling to another screen. Takuya knew the answer before he even saw the screen. He knew it because he could feel the fire already burning inside him and a voice whispering to him that he hadn't heard in a year except in distant dreams. The Warrior of Flame's spirits had returned to him. He wasn't sure how or why, but it had.

He knew now that this was indeed the Digital World, but something still didn't feel right. It might have been just a hunch, but Takuya always trusted his own instincts, especially after his adventures in the Digital World had shown him how to sense things like this. It had grown weaker over the past few months as he grew further apart from his digital spirits but apparently they were starting to creep back in, like riding a bike. He glanced around the clearing. "I'm not going to get anything just hanging around here," he muttered. Takuya's eyes fell back to his digivice, he had no way of knowing where the others were or if they were even here, but he had to believe that if he had been summoned back then surely the others had as well. Takuya clenched his fist around his digivice before setting off in a direction at random.

As he left the clearing the foliage rustled and from them emerged a large blue and white striped, large-antlered, moose-like digimon. It pawed at the ground and sniffed the air before its red eyes narrowed, "A fire digimon in Dianamon's territory. He shall be dealt with." The Moosemon, as that was what this digimon was called unsurprisingly, pawed at the ground before letting out a loud bellows to summon his companions. There was a hunt brewing and Moosemon was determined not to let a digimon of fire disrupt the order of the forest.

Meanwhile, less than a mile away, Gabumon and Matt came to a stop as they both heard the summoning call of Moosemon. Of course, neither of them realized that that was what it was but it still made them feel cautious. Matt looked off in the direction it had come from before gazing back down at Gabumon, "Any idea what that was?"

"Not a clue, Matt, but maybe we should try to locate that other digivice quickly, hm?"

Matt nodded, pulling out his digivice again to scan the area. He still wasn't completely sure he trusted his own digivice, not after what had happened earlier that afternoon with it acting up and then bringing him here without any indication of a digital gate. He almost didn't believe the signal of another digivice nearby, but seeing as he had little else to go on Matt had decided it'd probably be best and find out who it was. He was hoping it would be someone familiar, but with the amount of people getting digivices growing every day, he couldn't be entirely sure of that either. On the bright side at least he had his old friend Gabumon with him. Matt found it difficult to worry with his partner digimon there.

"Hey. They're moving now," Matt replied, noticing the blip of a digivice reading moving further and further away. He frowned and looked down at his friend, "He's moving fast too. If we don't catch up with him soon we're going to lose the reading."

Gabumon understood immediately what Matt was asking of him and a second later he was Garurumon. "Come on Matt," the large wolf growled even as Matt climbed up and on to his back. As soon as the wolf digimon felt that his rider was secure he took off, listening intently for Matt to tell him which direction to go. Matt couldn't help but smile as he rode on the back of Garurumon. Sometimes he really couldn't help but be nostalgic for times like this: the wind in his hair, his trusted digimon at his side, and the sense that he could take on anything.

It didn't take long for them to catch up with the blip. "We're adjacent to them now I think," Matt shouted over the roar of the wind in their ears. Garurumon bobbed his head and started heading in for interception. Things took a turn for the worse, however, when they pulled up on a horrifying sight. The woods had opened up to a large clearing beside a small cliff side. It was too steep to climb up, which meant that the boy whose digivice he had detected was trapped. Of course, to be trapped something had to be surrounding him and in this case it appeared to be a small herd of...moose. Okay, so they were blue and white moose and, since they were in the digital world, were probably actually digimon...meaning Moosemon. Matt wasn't sure why he found this funny but the direness of the situation soon drove the humor far back in his mind.

One of the Moosemon lowered his antlers, eyes blazing with anger at the boy, "You have been caught trespassing fire human-digimon and yet you DARE try to access your powers?"

The boy stood his ground much to Matt's amazement, "I don't know what you're talking about but if you're going to attack me you could at least make it a fair fight! Why can't I access the spirits?"

Another of the Moosemon chortled, "Foolish fire human-digimon. You are not in your element here and Dianamon has seen to it that no fire type gains advantage here."

It was about this time that Matt had seen enough. The boy was in trouble and while he didn't understand half of what either party had said it was clear to him that the Moosemon were picking on the wrong guy. Then again, Matt realized, he might just be biased because the goggles and cocky attitude were only adding to his nostalgia here. "Garurumon, I think it's time we stepped in." Matt was glad the Moosemon hadn't picked up on their presence yet,

His partner nodded and with a loud howl sprang at the nearest Moosemon. One of the Moosemon bucked up, startled by the sound of the wolf, while another cried out and lowered his antlers at the attacker, "Horn Blade!" The horns swiped at Garurumon's back, but the wolf digimon was faster than that and jumped away, actually hoping over the herd of Moosemon and landing in front of the boy.

Matt looked over his shoulder and grinned, offering out his hand to pull the boy up onto Garurumon's back. The boy stared up in shock for a moment but quickly came to his senses and took the hand, "Thanks!" Not much more could be said as they were still in the thick of a herd of Moosemon. It was time for Garurumon to clear a path and he did this by charging his attack, "Howling Blaster!" The Moosemon scattered from the blue flames and Garurumon took the opening as an invitation to leave. As Garurumon ran Matt took the opportunity to look over his shoulder again at the boy clinging tightly to his digimon's back, "Name's Yamato but friends call me Matt. What's your name and why are you in the digital world without a partner digimon?"

The boy looked up from his spot behind Matt. He seemed confused at first by something but answered anyway, "I'm Takuya. I've never had a partner digimon...but usually I don't have trouble handling situations like that." He hesitated before adding, "I think something is wrong with my digivice or this area is affecting my warrior spirits. The Moosemon herd said something along those lines anyway." Takuya shrugged, he had no idea why he hadn't been able to access Agunimon's form or his beast spirit's form either. It was troubling, to say the least, but thankfully Matt had been there to stop the Moosemon. Speaking of which, Takuya glanced over his shoulder, "I don't think they're chasing us anymore, Matt."

"Good. We'll run a bit more to be safe. You haven't seen any other people around have you?"

Takuya shook his head, "Nope. You're the first person I've come across since being brought here. Why? Were you expecting others?"

"Maybe. It would just make sense if I wasn't the only one of my group here."

Garurumon continued running but was able to speak and he called up to Matt, "Perhaps we should look into this Dianamon they mentioned. She might also be able to tell us why Takuya's digivice doesn't work while yours does." Matt nodded. Garurumon had a point and while Matt didn't fully get what Takuya was talking about with 'spirits' it stood to reason that this Dianamon was in charge of this area.

"Let's just hope she's more reasonable than her Moosemon friends, huh?"

* * *

><p>"This is stupid we should be going in there and helping them!"<p>

"We're not doing anything until we know more about this situation. If we storm in there now we're risking both our friends and their digimons' lives."

Davis groaned in frustration, smacking his forehead against the side of the cave wall. He had only met Henry a few hours ago but already the guy was getting on his last nerve. Every single time Davis had suggested a plan or course of action Henry had shot it down with a bit of logic and a suggestion for a better strategy and it was starting to really tick him off. It was hard to admit that Henry had a point though, especially since Davis was just so used to jumping into action. Of course, if he HAD acted back then he'd probably be in that cell with Ken and Henry's friend, Takato, right about now.

It had all started several hours prior when Davis had woken up in this strange digital world with Veemon. They had been following the signal of two digivices and the first person they'd come across was Henry and his Terriermon. The two hadn't had much time to talk or share stories before they heard the sounds of a struggle and went to investigate. It was then that Davis had seen his friend Ken captured by a bunch of weird looking rabbit digimon. He had pulled out his digivice, about to command Veemon to digivolve and save him but Henry had stopped him.

"Let's follow them and see what's going on first." He'd said, like it was SUCH a great idea. Even his partner had seemed skeptical about it but it became clear that the digimon capturing Ken and Wormmon weren't going to hurt them immediately, Davis conceded.

For some reason, it had been even harder for Davis to restrain himself when he saw what they did to Takato and Guilmon but, again, Henry had reined Davis in. "We have no idea what's going on Davis and for all we know more of our friends could be here and captured."

Again, Davis had agreed and was surprised at how easy it was to sneak into the fortress that Ken and Takato were taken to. All that had to do was hop into the back of a cart hauling in produce while the driver wasn't looking. The guards hadn't even checked to see if two boys and their digimon were buried inside. After slipping out of the back of the cart they had used Davis's digivice to hunt down the signal of the other two. Henry was the first to realize that there must be underground tunnels and after some spying they had found the entrance. This was guarded though, so they'd searched around until finding an abandoned shaft that led down into the same tunnels.

He should have known his good streak with Henry taking action wouldn't last. As soon as they'd found their way down into the tunnels and found the cell-block where Ken and Takato were located Henry had made Davis hide down an abandoned corridor to watch and wait. That had been several hours ago by Davis's calculations and just thinking back on it all irritated Davis and he looked over at Henry again.

"Well what are we supposed to do then? I'm sick of waiting!"

Henry sighed and counted backwards from ten. Davis was ten times more rash than Takato and Terriermon combined and he was surprised he'd been able to keep the other boy in check THIS long. He had barely managed to stop him from barging in to save his friend, Ken, and with each hour that passed that Ken was left unrescued Davis grew more anxious. Henry was going to have to think of a plan and fast if he wanted to keep Davis from doing something stupid. He was coming up with a whole lot of nothing, however, and so he gave in and looked up at Terriermon who had been sitting on his head the entire time, "What do you think?"

Terriermon gazed out at the hallway a few minutes, deep in thought, before smiling, "Why don't we just grab one of those guys and ask." Terriermon used his ear and pointed at a small Lopmon who was scurrying past with a tray of food balanced on his head, clearly meant for Ken and Takato. Henry and Davis exchanged a look before nodding and moving to stand up so they could easily snag the digimon when it ran back out. Of course, Henry realized that it meant exposing themselves and he looked up, "Wait."

Davis groaned, again, "Now what?"

"There are a lot of rabbit-type digimon around right? Well let's get Terriermon to lure him over here and THEN we can snag him."

Davis blinked in surprise before grinning; "Now that's more like it!"

Terriermon seemed to approve of the plan as well and so when they heard the door start to open again they sent Terriermon out to trick the Lopmon. Davis and Veemon watched as the little bunny digimon easily beguiled the other by saying he thought he'd seen something odd down this hallway. Henry motioned for Davis to follow his lead and as soon as they saw Terriermon round the corner they lunged forward, scooping up the Lopmon and dashing down the hallway before it could even cry out in surprise. That isn't to say that the Lopmon didn't try to struggle and get away, but it was a very weak digimon and not a problem at all for Henry and Davis to take it out of the underground tunnels and behind one of the storage sheds nearby, out of sight. Davis looked over his shoulder as they fled the tunnels.

"I'll be back for ya Ken," he muttered.

Henry kept the Lopmon in check while he led them back outside of the fort. It would be too dangerous to have the interrogation inside and they could always sneak back in later. Sneaking back out was a lot easier since the guards on top of the fort didn't pay as much attention to who was leaving. They darted into a patch of trees just outside the fort before they felt they were out of ear-shot of the guards.

Henry released Lopmon while Veemon and Terriermon immediately took charge of holding down the digimon. They were out of range of the fort and so Lopmon's cries for help mostly fell on deaf ears. Still, Henry didn't want them being surprised like Takato had been. "Davis, keep an eye and ear out for anyone coming. I'll handle the talking." Davis didn't argue for once, eyes drifting towards the fort before he nodded and headed to over to one of the trees and leaned against it, keeping an eye on the nearby fort.

Henry nodded and looked back down at the Lopmon, "Listen. We don't want to hurt you and we're not working for this Apollomon everyone keeps going on about. We just want to know what you all are doing with our friends and how we can help them get out of this mess."

Lopmon scowled at Henry and continued to struggle against Veemon and Terriermon, "Well you have a lousy way of showing it! Sneaking into Fort Artemis, kidnapping me, and clearly you are human-type digimon! Release me this instance and perhaps I won't tell Mistress Dianamon to slay you on sight."

"Hey! That's no way to talk to Henry!"

Henry shot Terriermon a look before glancing back at the Lopmon, "We'll release you unharmed just...please we don't know who any of these digimon are and we don't know what our friends have done to anger your Dianamon or her followers so much." Henry really hoped he hadn't been wrong about trying to get information out of this Lopmon. He didn't want to think that he may have just given the enemy more information about who was out here and their location. Plus, despite his irritation with Davis, he really didn't want to see the other guy get hurt, especially if it was because of HIS plans.

Lopmon stayed silent for several minutes but then his expression softened, "You...you're serious aren't you. You have no idea where you are and yet you have digimon friends so-," suddenly Lopmon gasped and his face took on one of reverence, "You are one of the Chosen children! Oh my goodness you're from one of the lower planes aren't you?"

"The what?" Henry asked at the same time as Veemon, Terriermon, and even Davis. Henry didn't even get on to him for not paying attention to the watch. He shook his head, "What do you mean?"

"The lower planes of the Digital Worlds. The ones fed by Yggdrasil's roots and that are protected by children shown to be worthy of Yggdrasil's blessing. Oh, oh please I am sorry for offending you earlier! I did not realize you or your friend were one such as this." Suddenly Lopmon gasped, "But! Oh no! That means that the other two boys with digimon were also chosen! Oh this is terrible! Dianamon will feel so awful when she-"

Terriermon covered the mouth of the digimon and looked up at his tamer, "What the heck is this one going on about? What does he mean digital WORLDS, I thought there was only one."

"Well, Terriermon, we already know that isn't true," Henry gestured at Davis and Veemon, "none of the things they told us about match up with what we know about our Digital World...not to mention they never even heard of the D-Reaper that was ALL over Japan? Come on Terriermon no one lives that far under a rock."

"I dunno. Davis seemed pretty thick to me," Terriermon jeered.

"Hey!"

"Momentai, Davis."

Henry shook his head. "Besides, Terriermon, maybe if you would take your paw off of Lopmon's mouth we could find out more." Terriermon huffed but obeyed and released Lopmon's mouth.

Unfortunately Lopmon shook his head, "I am sorry, chosen children, but I am not sure I can reveal much more than that as most of what I know is based on ancient legends. Dianamon herself will want to discuss these things with you...especially with recent activity from Apollomon. That is why they captured Guilmon and his companions...they were thought to be agents of the Lord of Fire."

That made sense but something was still bugging Henry. Well, actually, a lot of things about this were bugging Henry but he decided to stick to one thing at a time. Things were already out of hand, there was no point in completely overwhelming himself or Davis with information. "Okay, that makes sense; Guilmon is a fire type...but why capture the humans. You've...never seen one here before right? I mean, you're making this place sound like some sort of grand version of the digital world."

Davis was looking back at them now as well, "And why capture Ken and Wormmon. They don't really have an affiliation for Fire."

Lopmon sighed. He wondered where to start in answering their questions. "Humans have never been seen here before, no. We assumed they were a trick on Apollomon's part and captured them according to Dianamon's wishes. But, we know of the events in the lower planes and we know OF humans. Not to mention there is the legends to consider." Lopmon trailed off for a bit before shaking his head, "But I digress. The digital world you are currently in IS a sort of grand version. This is the first digital world and the one closest to the digital core of Yggdrasil. The rainbow sky you see above is not the sky at all but the leaves of Yggdrasil's branches blessing this world and all its inhabitants. Yggdrasil branches and roots in other digital planes which then connect to your human worlds when the right conditions are met. But...lately something has been going wrong in this digital realm. Dianamon has mentioned much but keeps most of us lower digimon in the dark for fear we will grow too afraid and abandon our duty as guardians to her fort." Lopmon looked saddened and worried.

By this point Veemon and Terriermon had released him because he no longer showed signs of wanting to escape. Everyone was giving Lopmon their undivided attention, "You see...this forest was not always so harsh against fire digimon and those affiliated with the light and humanoids...but Lord Apollomon has been acting strange and sending attacks on Dianamon's forest. I do not know the reasons why nor what measures Dianamon has taken to prevent more attacks. I think...I think for that you will have to speak to Dianamon yourself." Lopmon hesitated for a moment. He knew what he had to do but he also know that some of Dianamon's followers would take action first and sort out the other things later. "I will escort you to Dianamon. Only she can help you at this point and we best hurry...your friends have been scheduled for trial at dusk."

"Well at least they are getting a trial right," Davis replied, returning to join the group.

Lopmon frowned, "I do not understand why you sound relieved. Trials are swift in Dianamon's forest...your friends will be tested for the presence of fire and when it is detected they will be deleted."


	4. Episode 4: A Civil Reunion

**Author's Note: **Welcome to the new chapter! I really appreciate the reviews and watches I've been getting from you all. It really motivates me to continue (though I would probably continue anyway)! I warn you that the next chapter might be delayed a bit if I can't get chapter 6 written out (I don't want to upload chapters unless I have the next one done), but I'm slowly working on it and hopefully by next Thursday we'll be golden. Just giving you a heads up about next Thursday so hopefully there won't be anything to worry about.

Thanks again for sticking with me! From here on out it's going to a little more difficult to juggle all the characters so let me know if you think I should write a little more about one of the other guys (I'll try to keep it balanced but sometimes characters are louder than others).

* * *

><p><strong>(Episode 04: A Civil Reunion)<strong>

The sun slowly set on the higher planes of the oldest Digital World, at least, the light dimmed as Yggdrasil cycled from day into night. There was not so much a sun and moon here as the ever changing light of Yggdrasil's tree. Koji gazed up at the strange rainbow colored sky as the light continued to shift over the surface of the lake. He looked in both directions before climbing back up into the tree and nodding to his companion, "Looks like they're gone."

His companion, Tai, reminded him a lot of Takuya. After the initial shock of everything had worn off, Tai had been immediately friendly with him, exchanging names and asking Koji a million questions about how he was able to turn into a digimon and why he didn't have a partner like Agumon or why the Seadramon had attacked him. Koji answered as best he could but even he couldn't keep up with all of Tai's questions and, besides, their little search for their friends was interrupted by the shouts of "APOLLOMON'S SPIES HAVE BEEN SPOTTED" coming towards them. Neither boy had really understood what that meant but they weren't sure they wanted to get involved just yet. Koji was the one who had told Tai to climb the tree and he was a little surprised when Tai actually agreed with him. They had to help Agumon up because his smaller legs just weren't made for climbing trees. From there they had watched as a large band of rabbit-like digimon sprinted past them, heading for another side of the lake shore.

Once they were sure that the hunting party was gone, Koji dropped out of the tree. He landed and then looked back up into the branches at Tai. Tai helped Agumon drop down first before joining him. "Well, what do you think that was about" Koji asked, not sure what to make of the rabbit digimon or what they were saying.

"I dunno. They sounded like they were pretty angry though. I say we stick with searching for our friends and avoiding the bunny brigade." Tai flashed Koji a grin and Koji couldn't help but smile back a little. Koji couldn't help but trust the guy which was a big thing for him since it usually took him a long time to warm up to others. Of course, having been on a life changing adventure a year ago with Takuya and reuniting with his brother had helped in mellowing him out a bit. Even so he felt like Tai was just too much like Takuya not to trust. Tai didn't treat him like a little kid either, despite being older. If anything Koji felt like he should be looking out for Tai given that the other boy was relying on a digimon to protect him. Koji's eyes fell on Agumon and he second guessed even that. He wasn't sure if it was his inner warrior instinct or what but he could instantly sense a link or bond between these two. It was...similar to the bond he had with his warrior spirit, only this was external.

As soon as they started walking again Tai began asking Koji more questions and even Agumon, who had seemed to dislike Koji at first (probably because he had insulted him), asked a few things about Koji's digital world. It became apparent very quickly that they probably weren't from the same earth, let alone had experiences in the same Digital World. Koji could see that Tai was just as shocked by this as Koji was and neither was really sure what to make of this news.

"I mean, if that's the case, then what Digital World ARE we in," Tai asked, looking back up at the sky as if it would have any answers. While they stayed in sight of the lake, after the commotion from earlier they had opted to walk within the forest...just in case.

Koji shrugged, "Beats me. It certainly doesn't feel like the Digital World I'm familiar with and you already said Agumon claimed the same. There has to be a reason we both ended up here though, right?"

Tai nodded, looking back down at his digivice, "It looks like we're really getting close to those other signals." He then continued on with the conversation, "I think the fact that we're Digidestined might have something to do with it. You said the way you ended up here reminded you of the first time you went to the digital world...well it was the same for me. Only, my digivice started acting funny and then I blacked out and found myself here with Agumon."

"Yeah, and I was in my Digital World before I woke up here too. So even if this was our Digital World Tai, why would I black out too?" Agumon asked, raising a valid question. Something just wasn't adding up about all of this. There wasn't much time to think about it, however, as Tai's digivice showed that in just a few paces they would at least find more Digidestined, if not their friends.

Tai exchanged a glance with Koji before reaching out to push back the bushes. The leaves rustled as he parted them and suddenly a white and green rabbit launched itself at Tai's head. Tai fell backwards in shock and, thankfully, this caused the rabbit eared digimon to overshoot his target. Koji whipped around, tracking the creature, "What the-?"

"Terriermon! Wait!" A voice shouted from the other side of the bushes and pushed through them to reveal a young boy with dark blue hair and an orange vest. He nearly tripped over Tai but stumbled to the left of him and then shot the Terriermon a glare, "I told you not to just attack what was coming."

The Terriermon drifted back to the ground, controlling his landing with his inflated ears, "Oh come on Henry. It was just for fun. 'Sides, we already knew it was more humans...Davis's digivice went off remember?" Terriermon landed in Henry's arms and the boy just sighed.

Koji and Tai were staring at the digimon like it was nuts but a certain name had stood out to Tai and he pushed himself back up to a seated position, "Davis? As in-"

"Hey Tai!" A familiar voice called out as he, too, stepped forward through the bush. Veemon wasn't far behind the goggle-head and waved at Tai and Agumon as well. "Man I can't believe you're here, too! This is great now we'll TOTALLY be able to rescue Ken and Takato."

Koji crossed his arms, giving the two new boys a once over before looking back at Tai, "Friends of yours then?"

Tai nodded as he got back to his feet, "Yeah, well, Davis is. I'm afraid I don't know the guy with the Terriermon."

"The guy with me is Henry," Terriermon replied with a grin.

The bushes rustled for a third time and a small brown rabbit hobbled out. It took one look at Tai and Koji and its eyes instantly lit up with wonder, "Oh my! More Chosen!"

This reaction was not exactly what Koji or Tai had expected. Tai looked from the Lopmon back to Henry, "He with you?"

Henry shook his head, looking down at the Lopmon again. It was nothing like Suzie's Lopmon that was for sure. Still, that was another matter entirely and he really hoped that if anyone else showed up in this strange old world it wasn't her. "He's someone we kidnapped to give us answers about Ken and Takato."

"What happened to Ken?" Tai asked, immediately looking over to Davis.

"He was captured along with Henry's friend Takato. Ken is apparently labeled as an enemy to Dianamon along with Takato and their digimon. Guilmon especially because he's a fire type. Lopmon here was just telling us how we could sneak in to see Dianamon before the trial and clear our friends' names." Davis wanted to also tell Tai about the whole "oldest digital world ever" then when he remembered that there was someone with Tai he didn't know. He looked a little like Ken only with a much harsher expression on his face. "Hi, I'm Davis by the way and this is Veemon. What's your name?"

Koji didn't realize Davis had changed the topic to introductions until he was asked his name. It took him a minute to recuperate since his mind was still processing the information Davis had been giving them. Apparently more Digidestined were stuck in Dianamon's clutches and Koji had a feeling that the shouts about Apollomon earlier were connected. He put that aside and replied, "Koji."

"Nice to meet you both," Henry said, bowing his head slightly in greeting. He then turned back to the Lopmon. He wasn't sure if having more people was going to help or hinder them, but he had a feeling if he brought it up then Tai and Koji would just get mad at him. He'd had enough trouble just getting Davis to listen to him after all. "So what's the plan Lopmon? Do we just sneak back in?"

Lopmon looked up at the sky, clearly trying to figure out how much time they had. He then nodded, "It would take too long to convince the guards of your intentions but we will have to be stealthy as fighting your way into the fort would also be a bad idea. There are several tunnels that we Lopmon use to get in and out of the fort for easy foraging. We can use those to regain entrance and then I can show you the way to Dianamon's court. I just hope we can make it before the decision has been made."

Henry and Davis looked up at the sky; they could see that even though there was no sun, the light was certainly heading towards dusk. They didn't have a lot of time left to plan or act. Davis pounded his fist into his hand, turning back to the group, "All right. Let's get this rescue started!"

Everyone seemed ready to go but Tai still wasn't so sure about this. He hesitated, looking down at the digivice in his hand. It was still bothering him that Agumon couldn't digivolve and now Davis wanted to go into a weird fort and try to rescue two friends. What if something went wrong? His hand clenched around his digivice. No, he couldn't be thinking that way right now. Not only was it not like him but it went against everything his crest stood for. Besides, as far as he could tell he was the oldest here and he owed it to them to make sure they got out safely.

"Come on Tai, they're gonna leave us behind," Agumon said, tugging at his partner's hand.

Tai looked up to see that Koji, Henry, Davis, their digimon and Lopmon were all standing on the edge of the tree line waiting for him to join them. He took a deep breath and marched forward. They'd get in and rescue Ken and Takato...one way or another.

* * *

><p>"It is time."<p>

The voice came from the other side of the heavy door to their cell and Ken looked up to find the leader of the Lekismon standing there with chains in hand to escort Ken and Takato out. Ken looked past her to find that Guilmon and Wormmon were already with her and he smiled slightly in relief, "Hey, Wormmon, are you okay?"

"Just fine, Ken." His partner spoke in a reassuring voice. Honestly he had been worrying a lot about how the humans were doing too so it was good to see that the Lekismon had treated their prisoners well. Wormmon was riding on Guilmon's head again, a fact that Guilmon didn't seem to mind. Ken wondered if it was because it took Guilmon's focus away from the fact that he had a muzzle on.

"Guilmon!" Takato shouted, almost rushing forward when he was stopped by Lekismon. He froze and then lowered his head, "oh...right." Apparently he had forgotten where he was and that Lekismon was not going to let him out of that cell until he put the chains on. Takato obliged, as did Ken, and the two boys joined their partner digimon in the hallway while Lekismon prepared them for escort. Takato leaned over to Ken and whispered, "So do you think we stand a chance?"

Ken tried to hide his worry but it was only mildly successful. He did not meet Takato's gaze though and instead just whispered back, "I don't know what sort of trial they have...but I guess we don't get much say in the matter." The Lekismon seemed more the type to shoot first and ask questions later, so it was a wonder to Ken that they had been brought in as prisoners at all. It was promising at least; perhaps Dianamon would be more willing to listen to them than her arrow happy guards.

The Lekismon led Ken and the others through the tunnels. Ken tried to pay attention to the turns but after a while even he lost track. He could tell Takato was trying to do the same but it was hopeless for both of them. In the cell they had talked about escaping at this point but it was becoming clear that that wasn't going to happen because they'd just get lost and then captured again. All they could do was follow them to Dianamon now.

The weaving tunnels eventually led out into open air again and they found themselves towards the very center of the large fort now. The court was a strange one, an open air temple with grand white columns with vines growing up and wrapping around so you could only see hints of the white beneath. This seemed to be the going theme of this place, Ken realized, a lot of natural resources and leaving things to nature. The columns surrounded a large clearing and Ken noticed that most of the other buildings were in a circle around it, at least five feet in diameter away from the columns. There were several seats set up but few were occupied. As Ken took all of this in his eyes were eventually drawn to the female digimon standing in its center looking into the waters of a well.

Ken's first thought was that she looked a lot like one of those mecha you see in some anime, although she wasn't quite as tall as one of those giant robots. That wasn't to say that she wasn't an impressive size and she easily towered over everyone present at around 8 feet tall. She was mostly white with purple accents on all of her armor pieces. She was covered in the armor as well, some of it even taking on the shape of crescent moons, including two large shoulder pieces and the boots that even had faces on them. There was no way to really see her face except for her eyes which were also purple. She turned away from the well and immediately the Lekismon bowed, also forcing Ken and the others to the ground as well.

"Who are these that you bring before me, Lekismon?" Dianamon asked. Her voice was pleasant, but Ken could tell she had a commanding presence and that the nice tone might not last for long.

The leader of the Lekismon rose from her bow and stepped forward to gesture at her prisoners, "These are the human digimon and fire type digimon that we discovered trespassing on your territory. We thought they may be spies sent by Apollomon and we wish to hold them in trial for also attacking one of ours."

Dianamon looked thoughtfully from Lekismon to the boys and then to their digimon. She paused on each one of them as if trying to read their thoughts or perhaps their very souls. Ken tried to look as innocent as possible, but of course with that in mind all he could think about was all the horrible things he had done in the past. Eventually Dianamon stepped forward, "Lekismon, I can see why you were worried. However, I do not believe that a trial will be necessary."

"My lady? Does that mean you wish to kill them immediately?"

"Actually-"

"Stop!" The sudden voice rang through the court of Dianamon and everyone froze. If anyone had bothered to look at Dianamon instead of at the source of the voice they would have noticed a look of amusement appear in Dianamon's eyes. Of course, everyone was too busy whipping their heads around to see the human child wearing goggles storm in to the clearing, followed by a Veemon and then several others boys and digimon. "You can't kill them! They didn't do anything wrong and they don't work for this Apollomon guy either!"

Several of the Lekismon present brought up their ice arrows, prepared to attack. Veemon jumped in front of Davis to protect his partner but Dianamon swept forward, swinging her weapon into the ground to bring attention back to her as she stood between her guards and the boys.

"Davis?" Ken exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. While he had expected he couldn't be the only Digidestined here it was still a surprise to see that they had shown up.

Takato looked just as surprised and then he broke into a grin, "Henry! Man it's good to see you."

The Lekismon did not lower their arrows, however, until Dianamon spoke, "My guard, while I admire your desire to protect me and my forest I am most disappointed in your behavior as of late. You should have used your senses better and you would have discovered that these are not digimon at all but human children. I was going to say, before we were interrupted," she paused, glancing over at Davis who smiled sheepishly, "that there is no need for an execution because they have been invited to this land by Yggdrasil himself."

The Lekismon started lowering their arrows until only the leader seemed unsure. She looked up to Dianamon, "What do you mean my lady? Why have they been brought by Yggdrasil and why did they end up in your forest?"

"Actually, that's a pretty good question," Tai spoke up, stepping forward a bit now that they weren't being threatened by killer bunnies. "Why WERE we all brought here?"

Dianamon looked calmly between her guard and the Digidestined before nodding, "I will tell you what I have seen but first we should perhaps release your friends from their bindings. I would rather this be a pleasant conversation." Four of the Lekismon stepped over to the imprisoned boys and released the chains around them. Ken rubbed at his wrists before going over to Wormmon and scooping him up, whispering softly to him that he was glad he was safe.

The quiet tension of the moment was soon interrupted by the pounding of hooves outside of the court and several Moosemon stampeded into the circle of pillars. Dianamon was the only one unsurprised to see them and the leader of her guard scowled up at the large digimon, "What is the meaning of this?"

The largest of the Moosemon stepped forward, "We have captured spies after a glorious chase through the woods. They put up quite a fight but as soon as we captured them we brought them here only to find out a trial was already being put into action!" Two more of the Moosemon trotted forward with loads on their backs. They were accompanied by a pair of Gaomon, dog-like digimon with blue and white fur and for some reason they wore boxing gloves. The Gaomon were apparently the ones that had worked the straps on the Moosemon because now they were releasing them. The large loads fell off and made grunting sounds when they hit the ground, hard. With a little wiggling the tarps that had been covering them fell off and two boys and a Gabumon were revealed causing Koji, Tai, Ken, and Davis to gasp.

"Takuya?" "Matt?"

The aforementioned boys looked up, also surprised. Although, Matt's surprise quickly turned into a smirk, "Why am I not surprised you're here Tai?"

Tai snorted, "I could say the same to you."

Takuya was still struggling inside his bindings, "Okay, so if we're the enemy why aren't THEY tied up and tossed in a sack?"

"Because we know better than to get caught," Koji replied, just relieved to see a familiar face and to know that Takuya was okay. He could easily slip into the sarcastic banter he kept up with his fellow Warrior. "I can't believe the great Warrior of Flame went down by a bunch of Moosemon."

It was meant to be a joke but Koji regretted it when he saw the look of sadness on Takuya's face. Takuya glanced away, "Yeah...about that..."

Dianamon stepped forward again, placing a hand on the head of the largest of the Moosemon, "I appreciate your work, Moosemon, but I am afraid these are friends sent to help us. I realize they have the mark of fire upon them but you must not hold it against them." Moosemon bobbed his head, accepting Dianamon's words. Dianamon's eyes lit up with a smile again, "Will you please have your Gaomon release them. I need to speak with them all." The Gaomon proceeded to do so and Takuya and Matt with Gabumon soon joined their friends. Dianamon nodded, pleased with this, and then turned to the Moosemon and the Lekismon, "I ask that you return to your posts. I have a long conversation ahead of me and need you at watch to make sure we are not interrupted again." The Lekismon and Moosemon groups both bowed to their lady and then turned and dispersed from the circle.

The light was turning darker and as it did the pillars covered by ivy started to glow, almost like moonlight. It reflected off of Dianamon's armor and off of the water in the nearby well. It was a breathtaking sight but none of the boys present were much interested in it at the moment. There were several unspoken questions hanging in the air and Dianamon knew that she would soon have a long and difficult story to tell them. Instead, her eyes fell onto the Lopmon standing near Henry's leg. "Ah, Lopmon. You are still here. Please inform the others that they should prepare dinner and places for our guests to stay the night. The preparation should buy enough time for me to inform our guests of what they have been summoned to do." Lopmon nodded and then scampered off, most likely to go gather more Lopmon or whoever else worked at fixing food and beds.

"Okay, seriously, what is going on lady?" Davis finally blurted out. He could only take so much of this mysterious build up that Dianamon seemed to be doing. It was like she was purposefully stalling this conversation. She had to know that they were ALL curious about what was going on.

"Davish, maybe we should be a little nicer to the digimon that just saved us," Veemon hissed to his partner.

Dianamon continued to have that amused sparkle in her eyes, "No, it is all right. I suppose I owe you some explanations after the events that have transpired. Please, have a seat, and we shall speak of what is happening to you and all Digital Worlds."


	5. Episode 5: Answers for All

**Author's Note: **A lot of exposition this chapter but it will hopefully clear up some points of confusion. I tried to make it more interesting than just loads of exposition but sometimes that is unavoidable. Please enjoy and review! **  
><strong>

**Episode 05: Answers for All**

It was the kind of atmosphere that demanded a crackling fire despite the fact that there was really no need for one. The weather was warm and pleasant, a slight breeze coming off of the nearby lake just past the fort, so the warmth of a fire would have been a little much. Even using it as a source of light was unnecessary because the pillars that stood around them gave off a soft, white glow that was unnatural but beautiful all the same. Standing near the water well once again was Dianamon, her presence commanding the attention of the 8 boys and six digimon there. Even Terriermon, the one most likely to get bored and start causing mischief, and Guilmon, the one most likely to just get bored, sat quietly next to their Tamers. It was the silence that could really use the fire, because at least then there would be the comforting sound of a crackle to listen to.

Dianamon looked at each of her guests. There was much to tell them and she wasn't even sure where to begin. She took a deep breath, "Before I begin, I should tell you that most of what I can share is based on what I have foreseen happening," she quietly placed her hand on the edge of the well. "I will tell you what I know and then you may ask any questions I have failed to answer to your satisfaction." The boys' silence was response enough and Dianamon began the only way she knew how: at the beginning.

* * *

><p>Yggdrasil was the first. He is the being that sparked life into all and he is the reason any of the Digital Worlds exist. The world you are in now is the oldest of them and thus the closest to Yggdrasil's core. It is blessed with strong Digimon who live in peace, for the most part. Yggdrasil created all of them, light and dark digimon, to inhabit his world and bring balance to the realm. As his world began to overflow with life many of the digimon began to descend to what we call the lower planes. New worlds were created for them by Yggdrasil who sought to care for those sprung from him. The Digital beings that left are those you may be familiar with, both as allies and enemies.<p>

You see, for though Yggdrasil wished all of his worlds could be at peace, the further from him they got the more they forgot about what was important. Dark digimon turned evil and digimon of the light began an effort to fight them, but even this helped to maintain the balance of the worlds. They were not enough, however, and soon Yggdrasil decided to bless them with another boon. He granted the worlds the ability to connect with a parallel world. A world with children that held hopes, dreams, and the light to fight off the darkness. Each of these worlds were different as well in some regards, but they are the worlds you originate from and Yggdrasil gave the digimon of light the ability to choose who would represent and defend them against the darkness.

That is how each of your journeys began and when the light was restored that was how your journeys ended. Your presence here is no different. Yggdrasil is facing a darkness of his own, something that has not happened in even my memory and is only spoken of in legends that few tell any more. However, Yggdrasil has not forgotten and he has chosen you Children in particular for a reason. It is true, there are more children out there that could take the task, but you eight are the strongest and, thus, must be the first to take the steps on this journey to aid Yggdrasil. I do not know what form the darkness has taken to be able to corrupt even Yggdrasil, but it has already begun and as it infects him that darkness will spread into his roots and, thus, into the worlds you care for so dearly.

It has already begun changing the digimon under his direct protection. Digimon who were once peaceful have started to attack and become wild, deleting and destroying anyone who comes near. Unfortunately, even the powerful are not protected from this and that is why you have heard of Apollomon spoken of so much. Apollomon is a digimon of fire and light and as Yggdrasil's light begins to dim against the darkness so, too, is he affected. I did not realize this, of course, until just a cycle ago.

* * *

><p>Dianamon paused in her story and gestured at the well. Its waters rippled before a geyser shot out of it and an image started to project itself on the water:<p>

Flames fell from the sky and onto the forest canopy as a flock of Birdramon dove from the sky and down into the forest. There were cries of surprise and fury as the attack began, several In-Training and Rookie digimon fleeing and still being deleted because they simply weren't fast enough. Suddenly, one of the Birdramon was deleted as an ice arrow pierced its heart and a Lekismon dashed forward, scooping up several of the smaller digimon before retreating.

A figure stood on the cliff side taking all of this in, her purple eyes wide with shock and horror. Dianamon did not know what to make of this attack but her expression quickly turned into one of determination as she twirled her staff weapon and flew down towards the battle. She sought out only one digimon and all that opposed her were cut down, especially if they attacked her or those digimon under her protection.

It did not take her long to reach the forests' edge and to find a tall digimon covered in flames shouting at the Birdramon to burn it all to the ground. He was the same imposing size as Dianamon but his flaming mane of hair made him seem larger. He had a face like a lion and the armor covering his body was various shades of reds and orange. He did not even acknowledge Dianamon as she approached and did not look at her until she called out to him.

"Brother! What is the meaning of this?"

Apollomon turned and the flames grew higher and hotter, completely engulfing his form. He did not respond verbally, but his eyes blazed with dark fire and the tips of his orange flames began to darken as well. To her credit Dianamon did not step back, but held her ground as Apollomon launched himself forward and attacked her, howling in rage.

The image dissolved in flames and the enchanted water fell back into the well. Silence was still the only sound as the digidestined processed what they saw. "I banished my brother from my forest after that. I do not know what has overcome him other than it is related to the darkness that infects Yggdrasil. It has turned him and even my enchantments cannot hold him at bay forever. And so, I believe that Yggdrasil has sent you here for a purpose, specifically you arrived in my forest and I do not believe that is by chance. I believe Yggdrasil wishes to have you aid me in returning Apollomon to the light and perhaps in doing so learn how to save Yggdrasil as well."

It was Dianamon's turn to fall silent. She wanted the children to understand what it was they had been pulled in to. Some of the boys exchanged glances but it was Tai who spoke first, shifting in his seat before looking up at the large digimon, "You said we could ask questions when you were done, right? Well I have one to start with. How are we supposed to help you when I can't get Agumon to digivolve?"

Matt blinked in surprise at Tai's question, turning to look at his friend, "Agumon can't digivolve? That's strange, Gabumon had no trouble becoming Garurumon when we were running from those Moosemon."

"Actually," Takuya said, speaking up, "I had trouble accessing my spirits in order to digivolve." Some of the boys, who hadn't had experience with the whole human-to-digimon thing, looked surprised by this news. Tai just couldn't help but wonder if the two were connected.

Dianamon confirmed his thoughts, "That is because of the binding I have put on the forest. It prevents fire types from gaining strength...whether that is dulling their flames or stopping them from accessing higher forms. I am sorry it affected you as well but it was a precaution I had to take against my brother and his forces. Do not fear for I have a way of removing the enchantment from those I select." She stepped forward and put one hand on Tai's head and another on Agumon's head, a soft glow encompassed them and when she stepped back a crescent glowed on their heads momentarily before fading away. She repeated the action on Takuya as well before looking to Daisuke and Takato. While they had not tried to access their digimon's higher forms she could sense the fire within them, Takato more-so than Daisuke, and also blessed them as well.

"You should now be able to access your abilities in my forest. Your friends," she looked at Ken, Matt, Henry, and Koji, "have affiliations with other elements, however, that are accepted within my wood and do not need this gift. However, I do have a word of caution about attempting to reach powerful forms. You all have the ability to aid your digimon in reaching their full potential, but you may find that it is more difficult in this particular Digital World. Pushing your digimon past the Champion level may be impossible at this stage."

"Huh? Why's that?" Henry asked, looking a little worried suddenly. Before, helping Yggdrasil and Apollomon had sounded easy. However, if Terriermon couldn't get past the champion level then how were they supposed to fight what Henry could only assume was a Mega level digimon. The others looked just as worried, if not more so.

Dianamon gave them a sympathetic look. "You and your digimon originate from Digital Worlds of the lower planes. There are different methods for each of you and so all of you must learn to adapt to this new plane. Yggdrasil will be looking for you to prove yourselves worthy of his selection of you and it is only through his blessing that you will be able to unlock the forms previously granted to you. However, you may also find that there are new powers at your disposal as well...powers that will be necessary for completing the tasks ahead." She looked to Takuya and Koji now who were sitting on the very edge of the circle, "I believe you two will have the easiest time of this given that you have both already taken steps to bond with your spirits. I hope you will be able to aid the others in reaching this level as well."

"What do you mean by that," Tai asked. He knew what sort of level Koji could reach given that the kid could turn IN to a digimon. However, he didn't understand what that meant for the rest of them. What sort of powers was she talking about? Tai certainly didn't feel any different and if the others did they hadn't mention anything.

"It is difficult to explain but to start I would suggest forging closer bonds with your digimon. You have taken steps in this regard by accessing DNA-evolution, but that is a long ways from the level of bonding that Takuya and Koji have undergone. But, remember, humans and digimon have not been together in this world for some time...even I do not have all the answers as to how you will unlock your potential powers. I believe there is a phrase made popular in some human worlds that goes 'you will know it when you see it'." Dianamon was being cryptic again, but it seemed this time she really didn't know how to explain it any better either.

Davis actually looked thoughtful for once and when he spoke up it was basically to clarify everything they'd been told. "Okay, so just to make sure I have this right. You want us to go into your brother's territory, the guy with the evil looking flames, and purify him of his darkness? And this is really only the first step to helping Yggdrasil who is the real reason we are here?" When Dianamon nodded he continued, "Well how are we supposed to do that exactly? Purify him and everything. Plus, I don't get it. Why not bring in all the digidestined?"

"He has a point. If we had JP and the others here we could fight this guy no problem," Takuya boasted. Takato and Henry shared a glance, thinking the same thing about having other Tamers here...or at least Rika and Ryo. Of course, Henry reminded himself, they might not even be able to biomerge with the digimon at this stage if what Dianamon said was true.

Dianamon had to consider her words carefully. There were many things she still did not understand about Yggdrasil's apparent plan, but no one could really understand the will of the core. "As I said, you are the strongest of your worlds and most likely to succeed. However, consider that if you do not, your worlds will still need protection from the inevitable darkness that works its way down from Yggdrasil's roots and into your various digital worlds and perhaps your own human worlds. If the Chosen are not there to protect it then they would surely fall and I cannot help but to believe that Yggdrasil thought as much." That answer seemed to satisfy the boys and so she proceeded to answer Davis's other question. Her eyes turned sad, however, and she was not sure how to respond and she certainly did not like her answer, "As for my brother, it will depend greatly on how far he has fallen. Perhaps you can reason with him and return him to the light that way; his own fires should pierce through the darkness in that case. However, if he has been corrupted beyond that point then you may have no choice but to take him out, thus cleansing his data."

She looked away, "It is selfish of me...but it is one of the reasons I have not attempted to do so myself yet. I do not wish to harm my brother although I knew that soon I would have no other choice. But, now that you have appeared, I believe this is a challenge Yggdrasil wishes you to go up against." Dianamon looked around at her guests, "Are there any further questions?"

The boys exchanged glances now. They were still new to one another but there was one thing they felt that they all understood in that minute, once they agreed to this there would be no backing out. Most of them had had experiences in the Digital World that also showed that sometimes you were called to these places for a reason and you COULDN'T turn back once you were called. Tai and Takuya seemed to reach this conclusion first and shared a nod.

Tai stood up, "I don't think I can speak for all of us just yet, but I'm in if it means preventing more evil digimon from taking over the Digital World and back home." Matt rose as well, giving a nod of agreement. Their digimon stood beside them. It had been awhile since they had been called on to be the main force against evil digimon and the darkness but both Gabumon and Agumon were up to the task if it meant being with their humans more.

"Well if Tai's in then I'm definitely in! What about you Ken," Davis asked, turning to look at his friend. He had a feeling that when Dianamon spoke about full potential she meant Davis and Ken's DNA-evolution of Veemon and Wormmon, which mean he REALLY couldn't do this without Ken.

"I'm with you Davis," Ken replied without hesitation, looking down at Wormmon he asked, "Are you okay with this?"

"Of course, Ken," Wormmon replied.

Veemon grinned and gave Wormmon a friendly slap on the back, "That's the spirit, Wormmon!"

Terriermon bounced up in Henry's lap, "Well, come on you two, we can't let these knuckleheads get all the credit!"

Henry wasn't so sure about that. Sure, they should probably help, but did they really have a choice anyway? He had never been very keen about fighting but if he thought about all the problems that had happened with the Digital World in the past he didn't want to imagine what might happen if it became MORE unstable. He looked to Takato, "Well?"

Takato looked up at Tai and Davis before looking back at Henry. He gave him a nervous grin, "Do we really have much of a choice? Besides, I'd never live it down with Kazu and Kenta if we turned this down."

That wasn't a really good reason to go into this, Henry thought, but aloud he said, "We're in then."

Lastly, Takuya stood up with Koji. They had been called to the Digital World over a year ago, and while some of their senses from that time had faded there was one thing they were still able to do and that was communicate with each other without even exchanging words. They had a true sense for the others thoughts, though it wasn't really mind reading or anything. It was just a mutually understanding that they would have each other's' backs. Takuya smirked at Koji, "I'm up for this again if you are."

"Like I'd let you go off and be stupid by yourself," Koji quipped.

Dianamon smiled and then bowed, "Thank you chosen children." She straightened and turned towards the well again, "I will meet with you in the morning to give you a map and supplies for your journey to my brother's domain. In the meantime, I suggest you rest and refresh yourselves for the journey ahead. Lopmon and his friends should already have a meal and a place for you to stay in the fort." It was as she said this that some of the boys realized how hungry they were. The excitement of the day had taken its toll, not to mention the fact that Dianamon's story had taken a long time to tell. They started filing out until only Guilmon was left.

"Are you going to join us, Dianamon," Guilmon asked. Despite his treatment from earlier he was not angry at Dianamon now and, probably because he was the youngest of the digimon present, wanted to make her feel included.

"I am afraid I have some preparations to make myself, young one. I must use the well and see if I cannot foretell what perils await you. I will see you in the morning."

Guilmon nodded and turned to leave just as Takato was coming back to call for him. The red digimon joined his Tamer as Dianamon turned back to the well. The lights of the columns seemed to dim as the boys and their digimon left and Dianamon stood alone in the circle. She stared down into the well, placing a hand on its rim, "I pray that Yggdrasil will keep his chosen safe." The light glowed from the well in a hue of colors before returning to a soft white glow. Dianamon sighed, staring up at the sky. Silently, she prayed for the safety of her brother as well.


	6. Episode 6: Hitting the Road

**Author's Note: **As usual thanks for the reviews guys. I had someone ask me why I picked Henry over Rika and, I have to admit, the Tamers' crew was the hardest to pick candidates for since I feel like it's the one season where the main group/trio is equal in power. I picked Henry because I felt like he was a better balance for Takato than Rika. However, a little spoiler for the future, the boys here MIGHT not be the only ones involved in this fic. I'll say no more on the matter, just know that I chose these boys for a reason and it was a really difficult choice.

Another question I feel I should address is why Henry and Takato do not recognize Tai or the others from Adventure as a television show. My argument for that is 1) I didn't want to have to deal with the weird crisis of finding out you may be a fictional character and 2) I'm going off the notion that just because the series Takato watches is Adventure doesn't mean the characters from that universe would look like the characters on the TV. So, while Takato might see similarities, I don't really plan on pointing it out in the fic.

Enjoy the story!

**Episode 06: Hitting the Road**

The light got brighter as Yggdrasil exited his sleep cycle and the fort immediately began to bustle with activity around the small alcove of tents that held the boys and their digimon. Takuya was the first to wake up, disoriented and unsure of where he was for a moment before last night's events hit him like a train. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and then stretched. He knew they had a long day ahead of them but they had all agreed last night to get started early. Of course, looking around the tent now Takuya wasn't so sure they were going to go through with that plan.

Tai and Agumon were sleeping in a pile in the corner sprawled all over the place with no sign of waking up any time soon. Matt and Gabumon were at least a little more dignified but also looked to be pretty tired and Gabumon didn't seem to mind being used as a pillow. Davis and Veemon were almost a mirror image of his older counterpart, Tai, but they had apparently invaded the sleeping space of Ken and Wormmon. Ken didn't seem to be bothered by it except he was shifting a lot, either troubled by dreams or just trying to get comfortable. Henry and Takato slept with their backs to each other, Guilmon curled at their feet and Terriermon sleeping on Guilmon's stomach. Takuya's eyes finally landed on Koji who was staring right at him.

"Gah!" Takuya nearly cried out before catching the finger that Koji had brought up to his mouth in a sign of 'be quiet you idiot.' Well, the idiot part was interpreted more from the glare but still. Takuya relaxed and gave Koji his own look, a "what the hell are you doing?" look.

Koji sat near the tent's entrance. It was amazing they had all fit into this tent but Dianamon had implied that she wanted them to stay together as a group and "bond" in her talks last night. Koji wasn't sure he was 100% sold on this little adventure and he had spent most of the night wondering why they were all brought here, why the other Warriors weren't, and how they had gotten the spirits back when clearly the digivices had gone to helping his brother, Koichi. So, unlike the rest of the boys and digimon, he hadn't slept much. He was glad to see that Takuya was one of the first ones to wake up though; it would give him a chance to talk to his friend. Koji rose from his seat and slipped out of the tent and Takuya had no choice but to follow him.

As soon as they were outside Takuya had to admit he was surprised that the others HADN'T woken up with all the hustle and bustle occurring. A whole herd of Lopmon were scurrying around and preparing a morning meal, while several Gaomon set about stuffing backpacks and bags with supplies. Takuya realized, almost belatedly, that all of this was being done for them. "Wow, they're really serious about helping us out, huh."

"Well, they are the ones recruiting us for this mess," Koji muttered, eyes following a Lopmon as it scurried by. The Lopmon seemed to notice that it was being watched and quickly spun around.

She gasped and gave a quick bow to the boys before her head bobbed up again, "If you all are hungry the morning meal is being served in the pillar circle this morning by Dianamon's request." The Lopmon must have known they had been there last night because she quickly scurried off to go do whatever it was she had been assigned to do.

Takuya looked at Koji, "Well, should we go eat?"

Koji glanced back at the tent, "Don't you want to wake the others first."

"Uhm, you were the one giving me the 'let's talk' look. I thought you wanted to do that without the others?" Takuya replied. Koji couldn't help but smirk at that. Sometimes he really did misjudge how much Takuya picked up on. The guy could be clueless sometimes but where it counted he was all right. Koji confirmed the question with a nod, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading back for the pillars.

The smell of the food hit them long before they actually reached the circle and Takuya had to fight the urge to openly drool. Sure, it wasn't hamburgers or stir-fry but it smelled delicious and Takuya had long since learned that the Digital World had a strange sort of plant life anyway. He could only assume it was the same here since he could smell some kind of cooking meat and bread as well. He shook his head and turned back to Koji, "Okay, that smells REALLY good, so let's keep this conversation quick okay?"

Koji snorted with amusement, but even he had to admit the breakfast that was being prepared smelled delicious. "Fine, I'll be quick. Are you absolutely sure you want to stick around with this group? I mean, Takuya, it's one thing for us to put our lives at risk, but we don't know if these other guys can take care of themselves."

As soon as Koji saw Takuya's face he knew he'd said the wrong thing. Takuya frowned, not in anger, but in disappointment. Takuya reached into his pocket and pulled out his digivice to show Koji, "Koji, they may not fight the same way we do but they wouldn't have these things too if they weren't capable of fighting in their own way. Besides, you heard what Dianamon said, we're not at full strength here and neither are they. I don't think we're going to "earn" those powers by splitting up and acting on our own."

He knew Takuya had a point there but something else occurred to Koji and he looked up from his shoes, "She also said we'd have the best chance of unlocking our full potential or whatever because we've bonded with our spirits and she wants us to help the others. What do you think she meant by that? They don't have spirits."

"Dunno. But remember how I started developing better instincts because of Agunimon?" Takuya asked, when Koji nodded Takuya continued, "Well, I think it might have something to do with that. I think we're going to have to figure out a way to increase that bond between human and digimon...and since we're part digimon at this point that's why Dianamon thinks it'll be easier for us."

"And how are we supposed to show the others how to do that?"

Takuya shrugged, "Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Come on Koji, we barely knew what we were doing the first time we went to the Digital World. You think we're going to get all the answers that easy NOW?"

"Point," Koji replied with a smirk. "All right, we'll stick around and help these other guys...but let's get breakfast first, okay?"

"It's like you read my mind." Takuya replied before taking off for the breakfast that had been set up, leaving Koji in the dust. Koji couldn't help but shake his head in amusement before taking off after his friend. Takuya already had half the plate loaded down with food by the time Koji entered the circle of pillars. It wasn't long before the others started to join them as well.

After the meal, Dianamon joined them among the pillars. Koji stayed towards the back of the gathered group, hands shoved in his pockets. The pack of food and camping supplies provided by the digimon was already on his back and, he had to admit, it was rather nice to actually be prepared for wandering around the Digital World for once. Koji could tell that many of the others looked pretty happy about the packs as well, since none of them had really woken up in the Real World thinking they'd be pulled into another adventure. As far as he was concerned they could leave now, but apparently Dianamon had one last thing she wanted to address.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you are doing," she began, "If you follow the map I have given you to Asphodel Village you will find the edge of my domain and that is as far as I can offer you complete protection. It is quite a journey from here on foot, but my followers have provided you with enough supplies to make it that far." The map she spoke of had been given to Tai. Koji wasn't quite sure why, but maybe it was just the way he presented himself as the leader and no one seemed to challenge him. Even Takuya seemed okay with this and for everyone else it just seemed the natural thing to do: let Tai lead.

Dianamon continued, "Apollomon's territory begins just past the Lethe River and is a vast desert. Your fire type digimon should do well there but be warned, he may have precautions set up against those Digimon he knows to populate my territory." Here she paused and looked at Henry and Matt in particular, "Your digimon in particular might be affected, but that is a risk you must decide for yourselves if you are willing to take."

"What do you think Terriermon?" Henry asked, looking up at the rabbit on his head. He'd already considered the fact they might run into this problem but he was sort of hoping on Dianamon would have the foresight to put up a protection like that.

Terriermon just shrugged, "Momentai, Henry, sheesh. You start worrying now what's it gonna be like once we leave the fort? Besides, we can always try the card modifiers." Henry seemed hesitant but nodded anyway.

Gabumon and Matt, like Koji, were already ready to go and clearly nothing Dianamon said was going to change that. However, Koji looked up. He hadn't thought about element affiliations before. He hadn't had the same problem as Takuya in Dianamon's territory so did that mean he should worry about it in Apollomon's? As if sensing his hesitation Dianamon smiled at Koji, "Koji, you are the Warrior of Light...both able to handle the harsh rays of the sun and the subtle shine of the moon. Your affiliation with the wolf is what helped you in my territory and your affiliation with light is what will help you in Apollomon's." Koji nodded, it did make sense...sort of.

Dianamon looked over the group one last time, eyes resting on each human and digimon on turn, "I wish you all the best of luck in this endeavor. I wish I could reveal more to you about the perils you must face but some things are unclear, even to me." She lowered her head, bowing slightly to the boys and their digimon. Not wanting to be rude, the boys returned the gesture before departing the pillars and the Fort, most of the other digimon under Dianamon waving and wishing them luck as well.

* * *

><p>Walking. Takato was not prepared to do this much walking. He should have anticipated the walking given that they were in the digital world again. That's all they'd really done when he'd gone to the digital world the first time: walk. Well, not just walk, Takato could remember quite a few time when they'd run for their lives, but walking was somehow worse. There was a monotony to it and while he certainly didn't want to be attacked (again, he might add, given what had happened with the Lekismon) this dull silence was going to drive him nuts. Sure, there had been some polite small talk amongst the group, but they were all still too new to each other to really get any good conversation started.<p>

'At least with Kazu and Kenta you could get a dumb joke out of them every once in a while,' Takato thought glumly to himself. Not that Davis hadn't tried the dumb joke routine, Veemon helping of course, but apparently they didn't have a lot to work with and eventually even they stopped trying. He had only been here a day or so and already he was missing his friends. He knew they would want to be here too and Rika was probably going to kill him and Henry when she found out they had been chosen for this and not her. Takato sighed.

"What's the matter Takato," Guilmon asked, tilting his head up to his Tamer.

"Nothing, Guilmon. Just worried about Rika I guess."

Perhaps Takato should have thought that reply out more as the name of a girl instantly triggered Davis's attention who had been walking nearby, "Oh, your girlfriend? Is she a Digidestined too?"

Takato made his second mistake by protesting too soon. "What? No. I mean, no she's not my girlfriend but yes she's a Digidestined, er, Tamer...whatever I guess."

"She's totally your girlfriend," Tai chirped from the head of the group. A sly grin spread across his face and he looked back at Takato, "She cute?"

Takato really hated where this conversation was going. He supposed he deserved it after hating the silence so much. He sort of wished the silence would come back, but apparently the others had latched onto this conversation. They were as sick of the no talking as he was. Out of the corner of his eye he could even see Henry shaking his head in amusement. 'Yeah, you're helpful Henry,' he thought. Takato didn't want to answer the question because he knew either way he was going to have to deflect further accusations. Then he remembered the picture in his wallet. "I have a picture," he said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small, crumpled photograph.

"Oooh, a picture of her in your wallet," Davis crooned.

"It's not like that. It's a group picture we took at Rika's birthday a few months ago. Well, semi-group picture," Takato replied, remembering that this particular picture had been taken after some of the guests had left. Rika's grandmother had suggested the trio take a picture since they hadn't really had a photo to commemorate their trials as Tamers. Takato produced the photo, handing it over to Davis. It was a simple photo taken in Rika's living room with Henry, Takato, and Rika with their digimon.

Davis studied the photo for a minute before it was taken from him by Tai (who had apparently fallen back from the lead to look over the picture as well). Davis grinned at Takato, "She is pretty cute. Though it looks like she could learn to smile a little more."

"Yeah, she's not really one to smile much," Takato admitted, taking the picture back from Tai and putting it carefully back into his wallet. "She used to not smile at all though, so even a smirk from her is an improvement."

Henry shook his head again, "Rika wouldn't like it if she heard you say that, Takato."

Takato smiled sheepishly, "She's probably going to kill us anyway, Henry. She didn't get picked for this adventure at least."

A frown crossed Henry's features. He did wish Rika could be here and he wondered why he and Takato had been chosen over her. Surely Yggdrasil would need more than just a handful of digimon and their partners to take down this ultimate darkness. Dianamon had indicated that the perils they faced in their own worlds were reflective of that darkness and they had barely managed that! "More Digimon for her to take care of back home I guess," Henry finally added with a shrug.

"That should keep her busy," Terriermon muttered from his spot atop Henry's head.

"I wonder if they're worried about us," Ken muttered, speaking up after having just listened to the conversation for some time. He didn't mean to be antisocial or anything but he was just naturally quiet and preferred to listen to everyone else. Unfortunately, Ken's statement had the affect he thought it might and everyone mellowed considerably.

Koji, who was walking near Ken, looked up, "Well last time Takuya and I were in the Digital World no time had passed at all. So why are you guys so worried?"

"Well, it used to be like that the first time we went, but it turned out the only reason the Digital World wasn't synced in time was because of Apocalymon," Matt explained, picking up on the conversation now that it was something he was actually interested in. Not that teasing Takato hadn't been amusing. "Once he was defeated the Digital World reset and it was on-track again. I'm guessing you and Takuya had a similar problem."

The two Warriors considered that for a moment before shaking their heads. Takuya spoke up this time, "Not unless Lucemon managed to do the same thing. Even if he did we wouldn't know if time got reset or not because we haven't been back to the Digital World we're familiar with."

"Bokomon certainly didn't say anything about it," Koji added. Now that Matt had brought it up he had to wonder how much the Digital World had changed in their absence. If it did run slowly compared to Earth time then it had to be millions of years in the future by now. Somehow that thought troubled Koji, who knew how long Digimon lived? The Ancient Warriors their spirits were based on certainly weren't around any longer by the time they got there. "But you're saying we might actually be missed this time around? That's going to lead to trouble."

Tai came to a stop and everyone followed suit, not sure what to say. Agumon was about to ask what was wrong but stopped when he noticed Tai was about to speak anyway. "Guys, that's not something we can worry about right now. I know it's rough, but since we can't even figure it out why worry about it?"

Picking up on what Tai was trying to do, Davis nodded, "Yeah, besides, we all have allies and friends back home who know about Digimon right. They'll figure out pretty quickly where we're at."

"Yeah, Davish, until they go to the Digital World trying to find us," Veemon replied, instantly bursting Davis's bubble.

"Like I said," Tai said, interrupting again, "People back home will worry, but that's no reason to give up and we shouldn't let it distract us either. Maybe once this is over we can ask Dianamon if there's a way to contact the lower Digital Worlds."

There really wasn't much more to say than that, Ken realized. Tai was right; they couldn't do anything about it now so it would be best to pressed forward. He still felt bad for getting everyone worried though. Wormmon tilted his head back to look up at his partner who was carrying him, "Don't look so glum, Ken. You meant well by bringing it up."

"I guess, but I'm more worried about how our parents will react," Ken replied in a low voice. He'd disappeared on his mom once already. He didn't want to be responsible for her grief again. True, now she knew about Wormmon and the Digital World (Ken had told her not too long ago) but that still would lead to worry about his well-being. Ken could only hope T.K. or one of the others would remember to inform his mom that he was probably safe and with Tai, Matt, and Davis. He wasn't even sure that would be enough, but Tai was right about the fact they needed to stop worrying about it.

Silence fell over the group again as they all found themselves thinking similar thoughts to Ken's. The woods continued to pass by with little to provide them in the ways of entertainment or distraction from these thoughts. The wind picked up and the stirring tree branches hid the sound of wings buzzing as a Digimon that had been watching them flew off at an incredible speed.

* * *

><p>That digimon was Flybeemon. She was an armor-type with the crest of Knowledge branded on her helmet. She resembled a wasp in appearance, with a sleek red body with black accents and spikes. Her speeds were great because of the pair of wings on her back. Flybeemon flew across the forest, drawing little attention to herself. Unlike those on foot, it did not take her long to reach her destination outside The Forests of the Moon. She did a sweep of the Lethe River before she spotted her target, but she circled the air one more time before landing in front of the robed figure.<p>

The figure was tall; at least 8 or 9 feet and he wore a robe to conceal his features. He hid in the shadows of the trees just beside the river and when he heard Flybeemon's buzzing he looked up expectantly. "Well," he growled. His voice was deep and rough, "what news do you bring?"

Flybeemon hovered off the ground but not above the figure. No, she knew better than to place herself higher than her Master. She also knew not to stall with information like this, "The Fort is as well guarded as ever and the Moosemon are still heavily patroling the main ways towards it. However, I have more interesting news Master, Dianamon has sent a group out of the fort that is heading for the Desert of Tartarus...it's made up of humans and digimon," here she paused and then whispered, "I believe it to be the legendary children, sir." Flybeemon did not expect this news to be met well and at first a tense feeling began to grow in the air around the robed figure. However just as quickly it dispersed and instead the figure sneered beneath the robe.

"I see. So they have come just as predicted. Dianamon still knows nothing of what is to come to pass, even WITH that well of hers. Tell me, Flybeemon, are they planning to head straight into the desert or to stop at Asphodel village?"

"I believe the plan is to stop at the village first to renew their supplies, Master."

"Then I say there has been a change of plans. Alert the others and have them move forces across the river immediately. Execute plan Delta-One. You are dismissed." Flybeemon nodded, not questioning the order because that would be suicide, and flew off immediately. The robed figure chuckled to himself, "Let them come to the village. Even Dianamon cannot foresee what is about to unfold."


	7. Episode 7: Attack on Asphodel

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews, as usual! I hate to say it but I've broken my rule already about uploading a chapter before the next one is written. At first, I wasn't going to post this chapter, however I didn't think it fair to my readers to not update without a warning. So, here is your warning. I am getting busier with school now (plus several holidays are coming up) so it is harder for me to find time to write this fic.

**AS OF NOW** updates will occur on an "**every other thursday**" basis. That means next Thursday (10/6) you will NOT get a new chapter of the fic, but there will be one on **October 13th**. This should hopefully give me enough time to write not only episode 8, but also episode 9 as well. Since, as I said, I like to have the next chapter written before I post.

I apologize for this, but that's just how things are going to be for now. I may switch back to my every week update schedule at a later date. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter.**  
><strong>

**Episode 07: Attack on Asphodel**

"According to the map we should be getting close," Tai called out to the group before turning back to the map. As far as he could tell it had taken nearly all day to reach the village. The light was growing softer and it felt like late afternoon. Tai had planned for one more stop before they finally hit the last leg or so of their journey to the village and then, hopefully, they could rest for the night before continuing on. Aside from all the walking and some awkward silence, the trip hadn't been so bad, at least when compared to previous adventures in other Digital Worlds. At least here they hadn't been attacked every time they stopped for a break and that was a very nice change of pace. However, it also bothered Tai. Was Dianamon just that good at keeping Apollomon and his followers out or was something bigger brewing on the horizon that Dianamon couldn't foresee?

He didn't have any answers for that and as far as he could tell none of the others seemed bothered by this lack of attack. Maybe Tai had just gotten paranoid as he'd gotten older, after all he'd probably been to the Digital World more times and longer than anyone here (except maybe Matt). "Hey, Tai," Agumon spoke up, "Are we gonna take that break anytime soon? My feet are killing me."

"Sure thing," Tai said to his partner before calling back at the rest of the group, "Let's go ahead and stop for now guys. We'll make it to the village before nightfall at any rate." There was a collective sound of relief that they were stopping and some of the least athletic of the group (like Matt and Takato) dropped immediately, stretching out their legs. Granted, the only ones not extremely exhausted were the digimon that got carried like Terriermon and Wormmon.

Everyone started pulling out water or food rations that Dianamon had provided them, except for Takuya who was staring off in the distance. Tai didn't pay it much attention until after he'd drank his own water. He watched Takuya for a minute. The boy was staring off in the direction of Asphodel Village as if something had caught his attention, except instead of focusing on it his eyes seemed to be slightly glazed over. Besides, there were still too far off to actually SEE the village, especially with all the trees blocking the way. When he didn't blink Tai rose from where he was sitting and walked over, "Hey, Takuya, you okay?"

Immediately Takuya jerked out of the trance, blinking a few times before looking up at Tai. "Y-yeah," he hesitated, "I think so." Takuya's brows furrowed together like he was trying to recall something but then he just shook his head. "I think I just got dehydrated or something." Now that he mentioned it, Tai could see that Takuya looked like he was a little warm. Having had a sister that got fevers on a regular basis, Tai felt like he was a good judge of that sort of thing.

Putting a reassuring hand on Takuya's shoulder, Tai smiled, "Well, just drink some water and if we need to rest a little longer let me know." When Takuya nodded, Tai turned away only to find Koji watching them with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Had Koji noticed Takuya's strange behavior as well? Judging by the way Koji was watching Takuya now Tai had a feeling that he had, Koji and Tai locked eyes for a moment and then nodded.

Tai resituated himself next to Agumon who was cramming a piece of fruit into his mouth. Agumon swallowed and looked up at his friend, "What's the matter Tai? You look worried."

"Just worried about Takuya...he doesn't look like he's feeling too well," Tai replied, taking an offered fruit from Agumon and biting into it. "He seemed just fine earlier." Agumon shrugged, much like Tai there wasn't a whole lot he knew about medical care...human, digimon, or otherwise. "Help me keep an eye on him, okay?"

Agumon smiled, "Sure thing Tai."

The group slowly began to relax, but it wasn't meant to last. Suddenly Takuya jerked up to his feet and stared off into the distance. He look scared, but before Tai could ask what was wrong, Guilmon had let out a low growl, nose pointed in the same direction Takuya was looking, "Takato. Something's burning."

"Burning? You mean like a forest fire?"

Guilmon bristled, but Takuya spoke first, "No...Digimon...the village is on fire." Guilmon looked over at Takuya before nodding that this was what he had smelled.

Most of the group was on their feet by this point. Takuya's eyes were wide as he realized what he said. Henry stared at Takuya for a moment, brows furrowed, "How can you possibly know that?"

Tai was just as curious about that as Henry. He certainly couldn't smell anything and while Guilmon seemed to have a great nose on him for a digimon, Takuya was in human form. He realized, however, that he didn't have time to ponder this right now. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to hurry to the village and see what the fire is about." He glanced over at Takuya with a 'we'll deal with this later' look and Takuya smiled slightly in gratitude.

Matt crossed his arms, "I'm pretty sure we know what the fire is about Tai."

"Apollomon," Koji muttered, eyes not leaving Takuya.

Tai could see he was about to lose the group to wild guessing and panic. It was once again time to step up. He turned to Matt first, "Matt, Garurumon is the fastest...take Koji and Henry and head for the village. Tell them you have more help coming. If it is Apollomon, which, it probably is...at least with your digimon they'll recognize you as allies." Tai knew he didn't have to explain to Matt, but he said it for the other's benefit.

Without another word Matt turned to Gabumon, "Are you feeling up for a run?"

"Whatever needs to be done, Matt," Gabumon replied.

Tai then turned to Davis and Ken, "Davis now's the time to find out if Armor digivolultion works here. Take Raidramon and follow Matt. Raidramon is about as fast as Garurumon."

Davis looked seriously at Tai for a moment before nodding and looking down at Veemon, "Well, you heard the man. Let's go!"

"Right behind ya Davish," Veemon replied.

That left Takato, Takuya, and himself. Tai knew they were wondering what their part in all of this was, so Tai asked, "Is Guilmon's next evolution big enough to carry people?"

Takato nodded, "Yeah...but didn't Dianamon say it'd be harder to reach the next evolutions?" He paused and glanced over at Henry before continuing, "It's always been harder to use digivolution in our world so...I'm not sure what that means for us here."

"Hmm," Tai muttered. It was a wrench in his plans but he shook it off, "Fine, we'll just ride Greymon then. We'll be the cavalry for Matt and the others. I don't want to load Garurumon down with too many other people, plus depending on what forces Apollomon has we might be mistaken for the enemy." After all, Takato and Takuya had both been captured because of their connection to fire, it was best if they got someone there to vouch for them first.

By the time Tai was done, Gabumon had turned into Garurumon and was heading off in the direction of the fire with Henry, Matt, Terriermon, and Koji and not far behind was Raidramon with Davis, Ken, and Wormmon on his back. Tai watched both groups as they disappeared into the forest before letting out a breath and turning to the small group left, "Well?"

Takato reached into his card holder and pulled out one. He studied it for a minute before looking to Guilmon, "Wanna give it a try at least?" Guilmon nodded. He didn't understand why Takato was worried. If Guilmon needed to digivolve then he would digivolve. Takato closed his eyes. He had to have faith in his partner. Culumon wasn't here and this world was different...but he should still have access to some power if this was a higher Digital World. It just wouldn't be fair if he were called here for nothing. He swiped the card through the digivice, 'Please work,' he prayed.

When he opened his eyes again, Growlmon was towering over the group and Takato's look of worry melted into a smile, "All right Growlmon we did it!"

"See Takato, no need to worry," Growlmon replied.

Takato turned to the others, seeing that Tai had already digivolved Agumon into Greymon and had Takuya riding on Greymon's back as Tai climbed up as well. Tai smiled at Takato, "See. You just have to believe in yourself and Growlmon. Now, let's get going!"

"Fire Bomb!"

"Magic Ignition!"

"Fire Ball!"

"Meteor Wing!"

Fire rained down from the heavens and came swooping in from all directions as a small army of Firamon, FlaWizarmon, Meramon, and Birdramon attacked. The once peaceful village of Asphodel was a nightmare. Flames had already burned most of the outlying buildings to a crisp, and dark plumes of smoke were already rising from the village, while the rest of the village continued to catch fire and burn. Digimon fled in all directions while others attempted a counter strike or to put out the fires with water from the nearby river or their own attacks. It did little good, there was just too many fire digimon determined to burn it to the ground.

Suddenly one of the Birdramon fell out of the air, crashing into the ground before its data dispersed into the air and it reverted to an egg. A star-shaped digimon stood over the egg and while he didn't have a face he somehow exuded an aura of triumph. This was Superstarmon and the appointed leader of Asphodel Village. He was a gold-star in appearance with white boots and gloves that were outlined with red and gold. He kicked the egg up like a soccer ball and tossed it onto a pile of other digieggs, "Whoo-boy. This fights just gettin' started." He looked over at a Meramon who was just rounding the corner of one of the buildings. "Now I'll ask ya'll again to kindly leave my village before I have to really start getting serious." The Meramon looked at Superstarmon and held up a hand, a ball of fire appearing in its palm. Superstarmon just shook his head in disappointment before flying at the Meramon shouting his attack, "Halley Squall!" Several shining meteors appeared around him and he crashed into Meramon with all the power of a speeding comet.

Meramon went flying, slamming into another building. Superstarmon winced, he hadn't meant to pack such a wallop. "Whoops." Superstarmon cracked his knuckles as Meramon turned back into a digiegg. "Guess I gotta watch it or I'm gonna do more harm than good round here." There was a sound behind him and he turned just in time to see a FlaWizarmon sneaking up behind him. Superstarmon didn't do anything however because he saw one of his own allies sneaking up on the FlaWizarmon. Before the other digimon knew it a huge bear paw covered in metal armor ripped through him and he was deleted. Superstarmon nodded, "There ya are Grizzlymon. Was starting to think those Firamon got you after all."

Grizzlymon snorted, sitting back on its haunches as it adjusted the metal gauntlets covering its paws. It was a large purple bear with armor on its front legs and a crescent moon on its forehead. This Grizzlymon was easily twice the size of Superstarmon. "Please, Superstarmon, you know me better than that I hope." The voice was female and crisp. Clearly this was someone used to Superstarmon's antics and used to keeping him in line. She looked over her shoulder, "The village will not last much longer."

There was a heaviness in the atmosphere and Superstarmon drooped, "Now don't go talkin' like that Grizzlymon. Me and you're still fightin." There was an explosion to their left and both digimon turned, "Speakin' of which. Come on!" Superstarmon took off with Grizzlymon right on his tail. They reached the explosion to find a large pack of Firamon being ridden by FlaWizarmon. Fire was everywhere around them and the pack turned to face Superstarmon and Grizzlymon who immediately took up attack positions, at least until they felt the heat at their back. Superstarmon turned and if he'd had a face his eyes would have been wide at the sight of the Meramon blocking their escape. "Stars and stones it was a STINKIN' TRAP!" If Superstarmon had had a hat he would have thrown it down in frustration. Instead he turned his back to Grizzlymon who, following his lead, turned to face the Firamon hoard. They were surrounded so there was only one way to play this if they wanted to get out alive: back to back fighting. He'd trust his hide to Grizzlymon any day of the week.

"Well my friend, it was a pleasure fighting with you," Grizzlymon said in a low voice.

"And what have I told you bout thinking all negatively," Superstarmon snorted, raising his fists up and preparing to strike.

Fire started to form in the Meramons' hands and the Firamon started to gather flames in their mouths to launch. It was getting hotter in the circle but before the flames could be unleashed there was the sound of rapid gunfire and the Meramon started dancing about to avoid the shots. Once they dove out of the way a lone Gargomon stood with his Gatling arms raised and looking amused with himself, "Tag, you're it." The surprise wasn't going to last long and Superstarmon immediately launched himself at one of the nearby Meramon just as Grizzlymon lunged for the throat of a Firamon. They thrashed around and Gargomon picked up on his attack, shooting at the Meramon with deadly accuracy. Several digimon burst into data at once and were soon returned to digital eggs.

A second later Garurumon dropped into the fight, tackling a Firamon to the ground with his massive paws. Matt stepped up next to Henry, "Good plan to ambush the ambush." Henry shrugged, his eyes not straying from the battle. They stood on the side-lines, both boys not wanting to retreat too far for fear their partners might need their help. Koji had split from the group shortly after they had entered the village to help round up the survivors and put out fires. His job was also to spread the word that Tai's group was coming with more help in hopes this would encourage the villagers to fight on. Matt hoped Davis and Ken weren't too far behind since they could hopefully help with fire control. "Who do you think those other two digimon are," Matt asked.

Henry lifted up his digivice, the holo screen appearing over it and revealing the names of Superstarmon and Grizzlymon. "Superstarmon is an ultimate and so far the strongest digimon in the area...he might be the leader of the village," Henry remarked, the data from the digivice going on to reveal the information on their opponents as well. Henry shook his head, "Guess we should have asked Dianamon about that."

The odds were much better for Superstarmon and Grizzlymon now that Gargomon and Garurumon had joined the fight. Gargomon and Superstarmon kept the fire digimon back, while Grizzlymon and Garurumon stuck to close range fighting with their claws and teeth. It was a brutal fight and while they appeared to be winning, it didn't look like the forces from Apollomon showed any sign of retreating. Henry scowled, this fight was just too much. Why weren't they retreating? They were losing forces left and right and still they fought on. Matt seemed to be thinking the same thing because he muttered, "It's just senseless violence. What's wrong with these digimon?"

"I don't know. I've met some vicious fighting digimon before...but even this is excessive for them," Henry replied. There was a clicking sound and Henry looked up, eyes honing in on Gargomon as he realized his partner had just run out of ammo, "Uh oh." Henry dug into his pocket for a reload card, just as Gargomon swung his gun arms around and started hitting digimon with it upside the head. The other digimon in the brawl weren't looking much better, especially Grizzlymon and Superstarmon who had been fighting for much longer.

Birdramon appeared in the sky above, wings glowing as they prepared to rain fire down on the fight from above. Matt was the one to spot them and he felt a twinge of pain as he thought of Sora, the sight of her partner digimon's form about to attack him was not one he was comfortable with. However, now wasn't the time to think about the girlfriend he had left back home. Instead he grabbed Henry and shoved them both out of the way as several Birdramon released their Meteor Wing attack onto the battling digimon. The boys landed roughly on the ground but Matt jerked up almost immediately, "Garurumon!" Henry, pinned beneath the older teen, struggled to see and make sure Gargomon was okay just as flames fell from the sky and towards the small group of fighters.

Matt wasn't sure what he expected to see when he turned around. Those flames would have toasted his partner for sure; at least, it would have had Flamedramon not appeared out of nowhere to take them flames himself. The humanoid-dragon digimon dispersed the flames with a flick of his claws and stared up at the attacking flock, "Playing with fire, huh? It's time you learned who really can handle the flames around here." Flamedramon launched into the air just as Davis ran up to the group.

"Hey guys, am I late or what?" Davis asked, grinning triumphantly. He looked up at the Birdramon flock as they fought with Flamedramon, "Raidramon saw them flying in from the north so I had him turn into Flamedramon to handle the fire. Glad I got here in time or you guys would be toast."

Matt rose from the ground, looking visibly relieved to see that Garurumon was mostly unscathed, "Thanks Davis. Have you seen Tai yet? He shouldn't be that far behind us."

Davis shook his head, "Ken and Koji are helping put out fires on the edge of the village but so far we haven't seen Tai or the others yet."

"Something's wrong," Henry muttered, dusting himself off. "These digimon aren't pulling back despite their dwindling numbers and the village seems mostly destroyed anyway. So why are they still fighting?" It didn't make any sense to Henry. Why keep setting fire to things if it was almost already all destroyed anyway? He shook his head, something was nagging at the back of his brain but he couldn't concentrate with the sound of explosions and attacks around him. Gargomon and Garurumon had shifted to helping support Flamedramon in the fight, while the fire digimon on the ground had mostly been taken out by Grizzlymon and Superstarmon.

Suddenly, it hit Henry. Asphodel Village was the first line of defense for the forest and Dianamon's territory. While attacking it would prove strategically advantageous it wasn't the main goal here. Henry's eyes moved to look off at the forest and he could see smoke starting to rise from some of the trees. "This isn't the main target," Henry muttered.

"What?" Davis asked, apparently having missed what Henry was getting at, "What do you mean this isn't the main target? They've wiped it practically off the map!"

"No," Henry insisted, "This was just a bonus and a distraction; I think their intent all along was to start burning down the forest." He raised his hand and pointed. Matt and Davis turned and their eyes went wide as, past the remains of village buildings, they could see smoke beginning to rise from the edge of the forest…and many more fire digimon pressing through it, setting fire to everything they touched. Henry whirled back around and shouted at their fighting digimon, "Gargomon! Stop we need to move our attack elsewhere!"

Gargomon looked over his shoulder, "What do you mean, Henry? The fight's right here!"

"It's a distraction!"

This news caused Superstarmon to pause and whip around to Henry. He was in front of the boy in a second, "What do ya mean a distraction?" Henry once again pointed to the forest fire beginning to bloom and as if on cue the remaining Birdramon from the flock flew higher into the air and turned towards the tree line. Superstarmon yelped, "Stars and stones! They're pullin' a fast one on us!"

By this point, all of the fire digimon had moved passed the village and were heading into the forest. They were no longer interested in the village, it seemed, and were drawn to the forest as if in a trance. Henry noted that more fire digimon seemed to be appearing that he hadn't noticed before, however, what really bugged him was that Takato and the others had still not shown up yet.

Superstarmon and Grizzlymon rushed forward and towards the trees. They were exhausted but they had a duty to guard the edges of Dianamon's territory. This left Garurumon and Gargomon and the boys pondering their next move. Matt turned to his partner, "Can you still fight?"

Garurumon sighed, "I think so…but those fire attacks took a lot out of me Matt. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold this form."

Matt sadly patted Garurumon on the muzzle, "Do your best." He then turned to Davis and Henry, "You two need to take your digimon and find where Ken and Koji went. They might not realize what's happened yet. We need to hold out for Tai and the others as long as we can." Henry and Davis nodded before turning to their respective digimon partners and shouting orders to them. Flamedramon grabbed Davis and jumped off, heading for the north-side of the village. Meanwhile Henry and Gargomon ran off towards the south. As soon as they were gone, Matt climbed back up onto Garurumon, "Let's go."

As they ran towards the forest, Matt couldn't help but wonder what was holding Tai up and, if maybe, there was more to this attack than even Henry had realized.


	8. Episode 8: Through the Flames

**Author's Note**: I would like to apologize for the EXTREMELY long hiatus. Holidays are always a busy time for me and combine that with this being my final semester of Graduate school, tests, papers, and travel I have had a lot on my plate. It also does not help that I hit a bit of a writer's block while writing this and it took me awhile to get over that hump. Even with an outline and having the whole story plotted out sometimes you can still have trouble getting from point A to point B. *sigh*

Hopefully though, with the semester winding down and everything, I can return to regular updates. The update schedule is still...up in the air. I don't think I can actually promise one until I have a few chapters under my belt. However, I will TRY to get the next chapter up and get to a "every other week" sort of schedule. We'll see.

Again, sorry for the delay and I hope this chapter more than makes up for it.

* * *

><p><strong>(Episode 08: Through the Flames)<strong>

Greymon was making good time, Guilmon keeping apace to his left. The village wasn't that much further but the boys and their digimon were close enough to see they might be too late to save the village from being destroyed. The whole sky now was covered in smoke and Takuya couldn't help but wonder if Dianamon could see it all the way back at the fort. His eyes stayed glued to the smoke. He didn't feel right watching it and wiped his brow with the back of his glove, almost as if he could feel the heat of the flames from here.

He didn't feel right and he hadn't felt right since a few minutes ago when Tai had caught him staring off into the distance. He had brushed it off as nothing, but he knew he couldn't hide it forever. Takuya felt like he was burning up inside and out and he knew it didn't make sense but he was positive it was because of those flames. But how could they possibly be affecting him from this distance? Takuya was glad he was behind Tai so the older digidestined couldn't see his worry. He didn't understand what was going on, but he had to wonder if maybe it was related to what Dianamon had told them back at the Fort.

Takuya shook it off. He had to focus here, they were about to enter a battle and he wasn't sure what their odds were. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get much longer to think about it since Greymon ran into a wall. It took Takuya a moment to realize it wasn't a wall, but a digimon. A SkullMeramon had grabbed Greymon's horn and stopped him in his run and before anyone could do anything he was hefting Greymon above his head.

"WAAAH!" Tai and Takuya screamed as they tried to cling to Greymon's back. SkullMeramon gave them a good shake and Takuya dropped hard to the ground, but Tai held on and suddenly Greymon was flying across the forest with Tai. Trees crashed and toppled and Takuya jerked up, "TAI! GREYMON!"

SkullMeramon chortled and then looked down at Takuya, "Puny thing. I can crush YOU with my foot." The digimon raised his metal boot before promptly being slammed into by Growlmon.

"Don't mess with my friends," Growlmon bellowed, stepping in front of Takuya as Takato ran up to join him.

Takato looked down at Takuya, his digivice in hand, "You okay Takuya?"

Takuya nodded before looking past Growlmon, "Yeah, thanks for the assist. What about Tai?"

"HEAT CHAIN!" The flaming metal chain slammed into Growlmon before Takato could say something reassuring.

It wrapped around the digimon several times and Growlmon howled in pain. The metal was scorching hot and while Growlmon's skin was thick, it was still not made to withstand this kind of brutality. Growlmon's mouth began to bubble up with flames and he directed his attack at SkullMeramon, "Pyro Blaster!" The flames hit SkullMeramon dead on but the digimon just laughed, the flames having no effect. In response, SkullMeramon pulled the flaming chain tighter and Growlmon buckled, falling to his knees.

"Yes, I think you'll make a fine pet," SkullMeramon grinned.

Takato clenched his digivice, "I won't let you take him! Come on Growlmon! I know you can break those chains!"

The blades on Growlmon's arms began to glow at his Tamer's word. He knew that if he didn't break out then SkullMeramon was just going to turn his attacks on Takato and Takuya. Growlmon hadn't known Takuya long but he didn't want to see anyone get hurt. Smoke came out of Growlmon's nostrils and then with a loud roar he broke the chains and, with a spin, took out SkullMeramon with his tail.

The flame covered Digimon crashed into a tree with a loud thud. Takuya had to admit he was impressed, even though Takato and Guilmon had a different way of fighting than he did he could still see the trust between them. They had a bond, and that's where Guilmon's power came from. However, the fight wasn't over just yet. SkullMeramon was already getting up. Takato looked over his shoulder at Takuya, "Go check on Tai! I'll handle things here."

Takuya nodded. He'd wanted to do that anyway. Still, he was worried. That feeling of burning up wasn't leaving him, and one SkullMeramon in the forest like this...well...there had to be more, especially with a blaze that big nearby. 'One problem at a time, man,' Takuya thought to himself before turning and running in the direction of the fallen trees.

Thankfully, Greymon wasn't far off and was already getting up from his flight. Takuya slowed to a halt and looked around for Greymon's partner, "Tai? TAI!"

"I'm fine," Greymon raised his head and then opened up his arms to show that he had protected Tai during the impromptu flight across the forest. Tai attempted to stand up but winced and his hand went to his side, "Ah, that can't be good."

"What's wrong Tai," Greymon asked.

Tai chuckled, "Don't worry about it; I think it's just a bruise. Too bad Joe's not here, huh?"

Takuya was now standing over Tai and held out a hand, "If you're fine then we need to get back to Takato, he's facing off against a SkullMeramon." Tai took his hand but then yelped and pulled back. Takuya blinked, "What's wrong? Did you hurt your hand too?"

"Did I hurt MY hand? You're the one whose grip feels like an oven." Tai stared at Takuya for a moment, that sort of heat was impossible from a human. Tai wasn't a medical genius like Joe by any means but even HE knew that much. "Is that...normal for you?"

Judging by the look on Takuya's face it wasn't. Takuya was staring at his hand. He didn't feel THAT hot, but what if what Dianamon had said was true. He could recall her voice exactly: "However, you may also find that there are new powers at your disposal as well...powers that will be necessary for completing the tasks ahead."

"HELLFIRE!"

Takuya and Tai both jerked towards the sound in surprise. Takuya frowned, "That wasn't SkullMeramon." He took off running before Tai could stop him with more questions. He could worry about the fire that seemed to be burning on the inside of his body later, right now he had to find out what sort of mess he'd left Takato in. It wasn't long before the heavy footsteps of Greymon had caught up to him along with Tai. The two forged ahead and Takuya made a grab for Greymon's tail, pulling himself up onto the back of the dinosaur digimon as he charged forward.

The scene they came back to wasn't good. Growlmon had been beaten down back to Guilmon and Takato was standing defiantly over the digimon's form. The SkullMeramon was no longer alone but had an entire pack of Cerberumon with him. Takuya frowned because the sight of the three-headed dog digimon brought back bad memories of his first time in the Digital World. Greymon let out a roar and lowered his horned cranium as he ran at the digimon about to attack the defenseless Tamer and digimon.

Tai and Takuya jumped off to join Takato as Greymon slammed hard into SkullMeramon. Unfortunately, like before, SkullMeramon caught Greymon's horns and twisted them with a jerk, flipping the digimon onto his back. Seconds later two of the Cerberumon leapt onto Greymon, pinning him down. SkullMeramon walked forward, twirling one of his flaming chains, "Heat Chain Flailing!" Suddenly there were several chains, each striking out at Greymon, tying him down in much the same way Growlmon had been earlier. Greymon struggled to get up but the chains burned into his skin and he collapsed again.

The Cerberumon pack had them surrounded, flames dripping from their mouths as the prepared to incinerate both Takato and Guilmon. Time seemed to slow for Takuya as he reached for his digivice. 'I have to save them,' Takuya thought. He flashed back to the first time he'd gotten the spirit. How he'd wanted to protect his friends then too...how he'd wanted to fight to save the Digital World. He had seen the spirit of Fire that day and he had accepted Takuya as the one for the task. Takuya had always been able to wield the flames because he had been the one gifted with the courage and passion to do so.

'you know what you have to do Takuya.' The flame in his heart flickered and blazed and now there was a voice in his head, speaking to him. 'you have always understood the line between human and digimon is a thin one. you have always known this power was in you, waiting to rise and burn for your friends. accept this power; accept that you are both human and digimon. only then can you unlock your true potential as the Warrior of Flame.'

"Agunimon," Takuya muttered, suddenly recognizing the voice and realizing what he had to do. Dianamon had said as much, it was more than just relying on the power of the digimon; the Chosen Children had to find their own power as well. Their strength lay in the bonds that bridged the worlds and here, in the oldest and highest Digital Plane of all, that power was magnified.

"HELLFIRE!"

Fire sped towards Takato and Guilmon, blasts from all directions by the pack. Takato grabbed for Guilmon expecting the worse but instead only felt the warmth of the flames on his face. He looked up and found Takuya standing in front of him, blocking the flames with his own fire wall. Takato blinked again, wait, Takuya was still in human form and yet he was still using fire? How was that possible? Takuya grimaced with the effort and then with a sideways slash of his hand broke the flames apart, dispersing all the fire.

"How...what?" Takato stammered, staring at Takuya in shock. Tai was also fairly dumb founded. He hadn't known Takuya could do that and he was pretty sure Takuya would have mentioned such an ability earlier.

Takuya stood defiantly before his friends, a soft red glow that looked like fire surrounding his body. However, as Takato and Tai looked they noticed that the glow was actually not really flames it was almost like bits of data that flickered and glowed like a fire. SkullMeramon was apparently shocked as well, "Impossible! A human can't have digisoul!"

"Anything is possible in the Digital World! And I'm not just a human!" The fire around him flared and Takuya pulled out his digivice, "And I'll show you what happens when you try to burn my friends!" The digisoul burst outwards before concentrating into his hand and transforming into the familiar strip of digi code. Takuya scanned it through his digivice, "SPIRIT! EVOLUTION!"

Real flames erupted and the glow of evolution enveloped Takuya. Tai and Takato had to shield their eyes and when the fire and light dispersed a towering digimon stood in front of them. Agunimon's blue eyes locked on to SkullMeramon and the pack of Cerberumon. He was serious and the flaming aura that had surrounded Takuya seemed to have enveloped Agunimon as well.

Agunimon launched himself at SkullMeramon, sending him flying into another tree before spinning around and eyeing the Cerberumon pack. The leader of the pack snarled and launched itself at Agunimon first, aiming for Agunimon's neck but instead its jaws clamped down on his arm instead. Agunimon tossed it to the side and then spun on his feet, kicking up a wild fire tornado that he let loose on the hounds from hell. The pack yelped as the fire picked them up and tossed them in various directions.

He then turned to where Greymon lay bound in the chains from SkullMeramon. Tai was by his partner's side and although Agunimon didn't hear him, he was sure he saw Tai's mouth moving and was sure that he was whispering something comforting to his partner. Tai looked up when Agunimon approached, "Can you help him?"

Agunimon nodded and grabbed one of the chains before snapping it in half with a little concentration. As soon as it was broken it disintegrated into data and Agunimon used his strength to help Greymon get back up. Agunimon looked up into Greymon's eyes, "I know it's a lot to ask. But I'll need your help to take out SkullMeramon."

Greymon glanced down at Tai and knew there was no way he was going to let this chance to prove himself pass him by, he had a duty to protect Tai and so far SkullMeramon had only served to tick him off again and again. Tai put a hand on Greymon's horn, his face as serious as it ever got, "Just don't get yourself too injured, okay? You can do it."

The large dinosaur and the human warrior of flame turned back to SkullMeramon who was just now beginning to get up from the tree he had crashed through. "Foolish child! I will wipe you out and then destroy this entire forest! Dianamon will fall to the flames of war!"

Tai clenched his fist. Much like Greymon, he was getting sick and tired of this SkullMeramon who kept tossing them around. "A lot of big talk for a guy that just lost his backup! We're not letting you anywhere near Dianamon's fortress...not today!"

SkullMeramon roared and burst into blue flames, "HEAVY METAL FIREBALL!" The blue hot magma flew out of the digimon's mouth, heading straight for Tai, Greymon, and Agunimon. Agunimon, being faster, moved first and spun up the fiery tornado again to intercept it, "PYRO TORNADO!"

"Greymon Go!" Tai shouted and while Agunimon took the flames, Greymon charged forward to attack SkullMeramon. "Nova Blast!" Greymon's flames combined with Agunimon and Agunimon spun faster, kicking up the flames into a towering inferno. He swept forward and, before SkullMeramon could react, the tornado spun into him. The flames all combined and Agunimon spun his leg out and kicked SkullMeramon with all the power of the flames backing up the attack. SkullMeramon cried out in pain as the kick connected. The flames around them died down and Agunimon and Greymon turned to find SkullMeramon collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

As soon as the fight was over Greymon dropped to one knee before changing back into a very worn looking Agumon. Tai ran over just as Takuya changed back too. Tai knelt down next to his partner, checking his injuries. Agumon managed a small smile, "I'll be okay Tai...let's just not do that again anytime soon okay? I have a serious head ache." Tai could imagine, given how many times Greymon had charged SkullMeramon.

"Sure thing. How about I carry you for a change and give you a break," Tai offered, turning his back so that Agumon could climb on. There was one advantage to being older in the digital world at least. His first trip he probably never would have been able to manage carrying Agumon, but now that he was bigger, carrying Agumon was easier. He was glad he could support his friend as much as he had helped support him over the years. Agumon holding on to his back, Tai turned to Takuya, "Now are YOU okay?"

Takuya looked worn out as well, not as badly injured but definitely exhausted. Tai wasn't sure if it was from the fight or the fire wielding. Takuya nodded though, "I'll be fine too with some rest I think. What about Takato and Guilmon?" The fight had distracted them from the state of their third companion and the group turned to see that Takato was still sitting over Guilmon, helping to rouse him. Guilmon was alive at least and starting to sit up on his own. Out of all the ones who had fought Guilmon appeared to be the most injured. Takuya and Tai moved back over them in an effort to regroup. "How's he doing," Takuya asked.

Takato wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and looked up at the two boys, "He'll be okay I think. He just needs some rest and something to eat." Takato frowned slightly, "I have no idea how we're going to get him out of here though. He's pretty big." He glanced warily at SkullMeramon's unconscious form. None of them wanted to be caught in a fight with him again, not until they had at least recharged and regrouped with the others. Takuya nodded and knelt down next to Guilmon.

"We need to get out of here though. The fires are spreading and I have a feeling its more than just SkullMeramon behind it. I'll help you carry Guilmon, the two of us should be able to do it," Takuya offered. Takato smiled at him, grateful for the offer. The two then proceeded to pick up Guilmon, draping one of his arms over their shoulders. Takuya then looked to Tai, "How far from the village are we?"

Pulling out the map from his pocket with one hand, Tai double checked their location while balancing Agumon on his back, "Not far. It should be just past this line of trees." He returned it to his pocket and eyed Takuya, "Once things calm down we're really going to have to talk about this fire and digisoul thing."

Takuya chuckled, "I figured. Don't expect much from me though, I don't really understand it myself...only that I think it relates to what Dianamon was telling us the night before." He sighed and gestured with his head to Takato that they should get moving. The two started walking with Guilmon between them, leaving SkullMeramon unconscious in the forest. Takuya made a mental note of the location in the hopes that they could alert someone to come deal with the destructive fire digimon. "I don't know what it is...but I think this Digital World makes us stronger. Dianamon said we might have powers here we didn't before."

After having just seen what Takuya did, Tai couldn't help but to believe it. However, it was one thing to have a kid who could turn in TO a digimon have these kinds of powers, it was another to imagine himself doing something like that. Was it possible? Dianamon had said they needed to strengthen the bonds between themselves and their partners, but what would happen if they did? What new strength or powers were they going to get from this and why were they being given them? Tai sighed; it was like the longer he was here the more confusing the Digital World became. He was starting to miss the good old days when it was just him, the group, and their digivices taking down evil digimon. They weren't super heroes; they were just kids who were able to give their Digimon the strength to reach higher levels.

There was time to think about all of this later. Right now though he had to get them to Matt and the others. Something told him in his gut that they were going to need to be together for what was happening to the forest.


	9. Episode 9: Ashes and Aftermath

**Author's Note: **Welcome back! So, I'm hoping my new update schedule will be every other week, although I haven't quite settled on a day yet. It's hard to judge what a good day is when you are heading into winter break without classes or work. Bear with me and I'll sort it out.

In the meantime, have a new chapter and thanks for waiting. If you could review that would be great and thanks to all the wonderful reviews I've gotten so far. I'm trying to work on balancing who gets attention in the chapters, but some characters are just easier for me to write than others. If there is a character you would like to see focused on more let me know and I'll see what I can do.

* * *

><p><strong>Episode 09: Ashes and Aftermath<strong>

A figure deep in the shade of the trees watched the trio of boys wander away. He had witnessed the entire fight and while his face was hidden by his robe and the shade of the trees, his very aura spoke of frustration and rage. He was NOT happy with the results and as soon as the boys and their digimon were far enough away he stepped forward, crossing the clearing to where SkullMeramon laid unconscious.

"You pathetic worm. I ask you to commit one simple task as one of my soldiers and all you can manage is this?" The voice was the same gravely one that has given Flybeemon the command to execute plan Delta-One. The figure reached down and grabbed the large SkullMeramon easily by the throat hefting him up, "Wake up you fool! I will not let you die just yet."

SkullMeramon stirred, though he didn't want to. His head was buzzing and everything was fuzzy. "Where? Huh?" The brutal digimon from earlier looked dazed and a little less vicious.

The robed figure growled, eyes glowing deep within the shadows of his cloak and something strange happened. His glowing eyes matched with his aura, a deep, dark red. This glow passed from him to SkullMeramon and the digimon's demeanor immediately changed. His eyes snapped back into focus and he looked down at the figure holding him by the throat, torn between anger and fear as to what this robed figure was going to do to him. "Master! Let me go! I can explain what happened! You must know about the children."

"I already know about the children you fool. I saw you incompetently fight them and lose to a mere boy." SkullMeramon opened his mouth to say something but all he managed was a strangled gurgle as the figure tightened his hand around the digimon's throat, "No, I am not done speaking. I SAW that the boy managed to summon a digisoul. I do not care what that means only that you failed to snuff it out before it could grant him his true power. You should have known better than to fail at crushing them SkullMeramon. I gave you all the resources you would need. I should be standing over the charred remains of this forest and perhaps even the charred remains of a few digidestined and instead I must now deal with them discovering the untapped power Yggdrasil has blessed them with."

The figure's red aura pulsed dangerously. True, he had the power to destroy them and he had let them walk away, but he did not want to reveal himself in this early stage. If they had been destroyed in SkullMeramon's flames it would have been easier, but the figure had his own plans and they were very complicated indeed. After all, he had a war to start and there were many ways to go about it. He knew that he would have an opportunity to snuff them out again once they reached Apollomon's palace. What troubled him was the boy with the power of flames. It seemed too soon for them to be getting their powers, but perhaps he had misread the signs. Perhaps Yggdrasil was getting more desperate to make a move against the growing darkness than they had given him credit for, after all the god was not exactly known for acting swiftly.

He turned his eyes back up to SkullMeramon. The digidestined aside, he would need to deal with this failure first. SkullMeramon was expendable and if he could not use his power as he was supposed to then the figure would just have to take it from him. Without warning the robed figure deleted SkullMeramon and the blue data floated before him in the air before being absorbed by him, his dark red aura glowing brightly for a brief moment before it returned to a dull, aching throb. See? SkullMeramon could still be useful for aiding to his own power. "Conquer or die. That is the motto you should have remembered, SkullMeramon."

A buzzing sound interrupted his thoughts and he looked up to see Flybeemon descending from the sky. She saluted once before speaking, "What are your orders, Master?"

"Call off the attack and tell them to head back to Tartarus. The village is wiped from the earth and we have made our point enough. Everyone will know where those digimon originated from and the war should start just as planned. We must spread discord on both sides if we want this to turn out as brutal as possible."

Flybeemon bowed and then took off into the skies again. The figure watched her leave before turning to go as well. He had somewhere else he needed to be, especially if he was going to outwit and outmaneuver the children.

Elsewhere in the forest, just outside the remains of Asphodel Village, Koji followed Matt and Henry into the woods. They had seen the fires spreading there and knew that Tai and the others were still out there somewhere. All three of them were worried since they knew that despite Greymon's and Growlmon's size they should have made it to the village by now. While none of them wanted to say it, they had a feeling that the boys had been ambushed during the fire attack.

Koji frowned and resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at the burned out village. He'd seen entire sections of the Digital World wiped out in the blink of an eye, but somehow seeing an entire village burn at the hands of other digimon was worse. It was...unsettling how brutal and uncaring the whole army had been. It was one thing for there to be one or two evil digimon, but Koji had a hard time believing that so many would act so vicious like that. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right about it but didn't say anything because he wouldn't be able to explain why he felt that way exactly. This was a new Digital World after all, what did he know about how it operated?

The other two boys were strangely quiet as well, except when one of them called out for Tai or Takato. Terriermon was perched atop Henry's head and Gabumon walked next to Matt, as both sniffed the air for signs of their friends. Koji doubted they could smell anything over all the scent of burnt trees and the like, but kept this to himself as well. Even though he appeared calm, he couldn't help but also be worried about Takuya. His friend had been acting strange lately and now he, Tai, and Takato were nowhere to be found. What if something had happened to them during the attack? It was possible they'd been ambushed by the army that had infiltrated the forest. Koji liked to believe that Takuya could handle anything, but it was difficult to reassure himself of that when Takuya had seemed so odd earlier.

"Look!" Terriermon shouted, pointing one of his small paws towards the sky. On command all three boys and Gabumon followed Terriermon's gaze towards the sky. Several Birdramon carrying various fire digimon in their claws were flying back towards the village and past it, presumably towards the desert and Apollomon's lands.

Koji frowned, "I thought they were planning to burn the forest down." He looked back to his two companions and they appeared just as troubled as he was.

"I thought so too. They aren't stopping at the village either. I guess we left Ken and Davis back there for nothing," Henry muttered, following the path of the digimon as they flew over them. It was like a mass retreat. It didn't make sense to retreat though. What opposition had they had?

"Maybe Dianamon intervened," Gabumon finally said, his voice optimistic.

"It could be," Matt replied, "but let's get back to our own search. This just means we don't have to worry about Tai or the others getting attacked."

"Unless they already were attacked," Koji muttered, loud enough to be heard.

"You have so much faith in me, Koji," a voice replied. The boys turned and broke into grins as they saw Tai, Takuya, and Takato coming out of the woodwork. The smiles fell a little, however, when they saw that Tai was carrying Agumon and Takuya and Takato had Guilmon hefted between them.

Terriermon hopped down from Henry's head and popped over to the three, landing in front of Guilmon, "What happened to him? I didn't' think anything could take Guilmon out. His head is thicker than concrete"

Takato gave a strained smile, trying to stay upbeat despite the state of his partner, "He'll be okay. He's just exhausted from fighting I think." Only a half truth, Takato had seen the beating Guilmon had taken and just didn't want to talk about it. "We should get to the village though and rest, get him something to eat."

A strained silence fell over Koji and the others. Tai sensed it and looked to Matt, "What happened?"

Matt looked Tai straight in the eyes. There was no point beating around the bush, "There is no village." A stunned silence fell over the three, they had seen the smoke of course but they had figured there might still be some parts of the village left. There was nothing that could be said and the boys and the digimon stood somberly wondering what they were supposed to do next.

It was Tai that finally spoke up. They couldn't just stand here. He adjusted his hold on Agumon and then looked at each of the others, "We have a lot to talk about and our digimon are injured. The village might be gone but we should head there anyway." He paused and looked at Matt, "I'm assuming Ken and Davis are there?" Matt nodded so Tai continued, "We'll meet up with them there and discuss our next move. If we can...maybe we can help some of the villagers with their injuries as well."

The group returned to the village remains in a somber mood. True the attacks were over and the fires were mostly put out, but each of them still felt the weight of the loss. The forest was so quiet now and the smell of smoke and ash did little to comfort them. Matt and the others hadn't gone far from the village and were greeted by the sight of Ken and Davis standing near a broken wall with their digimon, plus Superstarmon and Grizzlymon. Davis perked up as soon as he saw his older counterpart, "Tai! Hey, you're okay!" He made to run forward but hesitated when he saw the state of the digimon. His expression changed from one of happiness to one of determination and he ran over, "Is everything okay? What happened to you guys?"

Tai glanced at the two younger boys who had been with him before setting Agumon down. "We ran into a little trouble in the forest...but thanks to Agumon, Guilmon, and Takuya we managed it." Tai glanced down at Agumon as the rookie digimon rubbed his head, "Feeling any better?"

"Yeah, thanks for carrying me Tai."

"No problem." Tai looked to Guilmon and his partner and smiled, "Hey it looks like he's waking up."

Takato jerked his attention to Guilmon as the large red dinosaur stirred between him and Takuya. He let out a low groan, his nose twitching, "Takato...Guilmon is hungry." As if in response to this comment Guilmon's stomach let out a long, loud growl. Takato couldn't help it, he started laughing. He knew the situation was a somber one and they were standing right outside the remains of a village that had been attacked and ravaged...but hearing his partner utter his usual complaint just made Takato feel ten times better. Before too long the others were laughing or chuckling too, even Koji and Matt were cracking small smiles. It was nice to release the tension in the air.

It was Superstarmon that finally interrupted the brief moment of reprieve. "Well, as glad as I am that we're all in one peace...we still gotta tell Dianamon what happened here today if she doesn't already know."

Grizzlymon nodded, "We will also need to seek out those that fled the village and make sure they are safe." The large bear digimon sighed, looking up at the darkening sky as Yggdrasil's light started to soften into what passed for darkness in this world. "I believe, however, that such a task will have to wait for morning." She looked at the boys, "I thank you for your help today, Superstarmon and I could not have dealt with such numbers if not for you. Davis and Ken told us you were sent here by Dianamon to replenish yourselves before setting off for the desert. I am afraid we cannot offer you the same hospitality she would want us to, but we can still try to make your night as comfortable as possible."

The boys exchanged glances. There were mixed feelings all around as some of the boys didn't want to impose on a village that had just lost everything, but others knew they couldn't press on without some rest. Their digimon had been fighting for so long today and digimon like Guilmon and Agumon had taken a pretty bad beating. "Thanks, we need to talk about some things tonight anyway." Tai finally said, speaking up for everyone. Superstarmon and Grizzlymon nodded.

"We'll go see what we can get for some dinner round here. Grizzlymon and I know the woods pretty well so it won't take us long. You guys can work on settin' up a camp site. Come on Grizzlymon, we might find some of our friends while we're out." The star digimon started walking back into the forest, followed by Grizzlymon.

As soon as they were out of sight, Tai turned to the group, "Let's find a place to sit down and clear away debris. Takuya and I have a lot to tell you and I want to hear about what happened here while we were stuck in the woods."

The boys finally settled in a collection of buildings on the outskirts of the village that were made of stone and had not completely collapsed during the fire barrage. They still had to clean out some debris, but it would be a decent place to sleep for the night and Dianamon had provided them with mats to sleep on during their travels so at least they would have something between them and the ground. Despite the fact that most of the boys had seen more than enough fire for the day, Tai had Agumon start a mini-camp fire so that they could cook whatever Superstarmon and Grizzlymon brought back and also to light their way.

Once the camp was set up, Matt began to tell Tai what had happened during their separation, with help from Henry who was the one that had figured out it was a diversion. Tai and Takuya picked up from there, relating the events against SkullMeramon. Everyone was amazed by what Takuya had done, even Koji. But, after a moment, Koji looked over to Takuya, "It's not the first time you've done that though, Takuya."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Takuya was pretty sure he would have remembered bursting into flames before without being a digimon.

Koji sighed; it was a difficult memory for him. "Back during our first trip...when we first became Susanoomon after Koichi gave me the spirits of Darkness. I was a little preoccupied at the time, but I do remember you summoning the power of fire and surrounding us in it just before we became Susanoomon. I don't know if this is the same, but it is a time when you called flames without being in a digimon form."

"Oh yeah, I remember that now. I guess I always thought it was because I was about to become a new digimon that I burst into flames like that. So, you think the two are related? But, I still don't get how I was able to do it. And it wasn't just controlling the flames, I was able to sense the fire earlier too, remember."

"You were always better about that sensing the elements stuff though," Koji replied.

"Regardless," Henry interrupted, he didn't know much about Koji or Takuya's adventure but he still felt that this was different, "I think this has more to do with what Dianamon told us. You and Koji are part digimon so it will be easier for you to access whatever hidden powers she was talking about...what I want to know is how it's going to affect the rest of us. Usually we just act as support for our digimon...but does this mean we're going to have to fight directly?"

Takato, who was rubbing Guilmon's head as the digimon slept, looked up, "Well that's not true Henry. We've been more than just support before too." Everyone looked at him now and Takato hesitated. He didn't like being the center of attention sometimes, but he continued, "I mean. Henry and I, in the past, we were able to digivolve with our digimon. I don't know what hidden power Dianamon might have been talking about, but I have a feeling it might be related to that where we're concerned." Henry looked skeptical so Takato added, "I know we haven't TRIED to become Gallantmon or MegaGargomon but we're in the digital world so it SHOULD be possible right?" Takato could tell that Henry didn't have an answer for that.

Things were so different here that it might NOT be possible for humans and digimon to become one. Takato glanced at Takuya and Koji, there presence and ability, however, gave him hope that he WOULD be able to do it eventually. He rested his hand on Guilmon's head; he had to have faith in his partner. Dianamon had emphasized the fact that they had to trust each other and that trust would lead them towards the awakening of their new powers. Takato just wished he had a better idea of what those abilities or powers might be.

Davis shook his head, "Man you guys are so lucky. Getting to turn IN to Digimon, fighting with your digimon. I wish I could help Veemon like that."

Veemon gave his partner a sympathetic smile, "But you do help, Davish. I couldn't armor digivolve or DNA digivolve with Wormmon if it weren't for you."

Ken nodded, "It must have been pretty frightening for them too. Can you imagine fighting in half of the battles we did as digimon?" Ken shuddered at the thought, but Davis still felt like he would like to fight with Veemon instead of just being support and a source of strength.

Henry saw the look in his eyes and sighed, "It was pretty scary sometimes, and dangerous, but I can kind of see where Davis is coming from. Sometimes just watching Terriermon fight and giving him boost cards wasn't enough."

Before much more could be said, Grizzlymon and Superstarmon returned with food. It was mostly vegetables and fruit they had collected and the group quickly dug in. Everyone was hungry after the day they had just had and after the meeting all of them were left with their own thoughts as they ate.

Grizzlymon and Superstarmon sensed the tension in the air among the boys, so they too remained silent as they ate. Despite the state of their village they were quite pleased, during their gathering of food they had run into a number of digimon who had formerly lived in the village and who were planning to return in the morning to start rebuilding. There were many who had been lost, but it was reassuring to know that the villagers had not been completely wiped out. They had even found someone willing to go to Dianamon's fort and give her an update on what had happened.

After everyone was finished eating, they all settled in for a long and restless night.


	10. Episode 10: Dreams of Courage and Light

**Author's Note: **So after nearly half a year of no updates or anything I am back. I apologize for that as a lot of things occurred in the past half of year, but that's not really important. I don't want to let thing story die so I'm going to try and update regularly again. We'll see how long that lasts when I get a job, but I'd really like to be able to finish this at some point (and we still have such a long journey ahead of us.)

Still, thank you to all my reviewers who continue to support me even when it seemed like I had given up on this story. I apologize for that and I hope I haven't lost TOO many readers in the process. Regardless, enjoy this installment and hopefully I will be back soon with more.

* * *

><p>(<strong>Episode 10: Dreams of Courage and Light<strong>)

Light was all around him but it didn't blind him. On the contrary, this light was soft and warm; it gave him strength but also made him feel safe, like it was protecting him. He wasn't sure if this was a dream or real as he felt like he was floating, but he knew anything was possible in the Digital World.

'koji'

The boy looked up when he heard his name. Someone was calling to him but there was no one but him in all this whiteness. He stepped forward, "Hello?"

The voice did not speak again but the light started to change. Koji sensed it more than actually saw a change in it. It was like the light was quivering or shifting at least that was the best way Koji could put it to words. The light seemed to glow brighter and Koji turned to the source. Amidst all the white light there seemed to be a form, though he couldn't make it out.

'koji your light is what is needed. it is the only thing that will turn the tides of War. you must find the true power of your light.'

Koji started running, trying to catch up to the figure. The shape was becoming clearer, along with the voice. "What do you mean? Who are you?" He called, reaching out to try and grasp the white form within the light.

'awaken lobomon. your light and his are the same...powerful and comforting at the same time. soft like the light of the moon but also an element that powers the sun as well. you must know this koji for it will set other things in motion.'

Suddenly Koji felt something behind him and he froze. The figure was still before him but now there was another presence and it was not as welcomed. He shuddered and turned, eyes widening as he saw a dark, black stain of a shadow stretching out behind him. At first he thought it was his own shadow but it was not in his shape. He did not recognize it at all and started to panic. What was happening? He was the Warrior of Light and he no longer possessed the elements of Darkness.

'koji. the shadows grow deeper...it was why you were called here. the shadows corrupting apollomon and yggdrasil...they are the same source. find what casts the shadow.'

He turned to the voice again but now the figure he had seen in the light was gone. Koji tried to step forward but he felt something grab his ankle. The large form of the shadow was rising and was no longer flat like a shadow should be. It was then that Koji realized where he had seen this shadow before. It was the same figure he had seen in Dianamon's well. It was Apollomon. Koji yelped as Apollomon's grip on his leg tightened and yanked him backwards. "No! No! Let me GO!"

Without warning light burst out of Koji and punched through Apollomon, two bright beams of light that completely evaporated the shadow. As Apollomon's dark shadow dissipated into nothingness the twin beams of light began to take shape. Their backs were to Koji but he recognized immediately who and what they were, "Lobomon! KendoGarurumon!"

"Discover your true powers of Light, Koji," Lobomon said.

"Your Light is the one that'll guide the way for the others," KendoGarurumon added.

Confusion flashed across Koji's face, "I don't understand. What does any of this mean? Why is my light so important and how do I awaken it?" His eyes widened, "Is this the power Dianamon was talking about for us? Please! Tell me!"

Lobomon smirked at Koji over his shoulder, "I'm afraid we can only say so much. It has to be YOU that discovers it Koji." KendoGarurumon nodded and in another flash of light they were gone and Koji jolted awake just as Yggdrasil started to transition into dawn.

He was breathing heavy and he couldn't believe that it was daylight already. He stared at his hands for a long time, having trouble believing that it was all a dream. "It felt...so real," he muttered, recalling every detail. Koji looked up and was surprised to find Tai was awake as well and looking just as shaken by his dreams. They made eye contact and Koji got the sudden feeling that Tai had experienced something similar.

Tai looked away from Koji, closing his eyes and recalling the dream that had just woke him up. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Koji had woken up at the exact same time. Tai took a deep breath and the dream played again before his eyes...

Tai didn't quite understand it, but he was back at the cave where he had first found his crest. It was carved deeply into the wall of the cave and Tai couldn't help but reach out and touch it. He'd come a long way from the kid who had stumbled along in the digital world with his friends, trying to get back home and not die at the hands of some crazed digital evil. As if in response to his touch the sun design of the crest began to glow orange. Tai blinked in surprise and soon had to shield his eyes as the glow increased and enveloped him in its warmth.

When he opened them again he was floating in an orange glowing light, with no sense of up or down. He was surprised and looked around, trying to get a sense of where he was, but there were no landmarks or anything other than the orange light surrounding him.

"tai."

He looked up, expecting to find someone floating above him but there was no one. "Hello? Uhm, hey, this is fun and all but can someone explain to me what is going on?" There was no answer, but Tai saw a shape start to take form above him. He squinted his eyes, trying to make it out but it still didn't become any clearer.

"tai. you must awaken the courage within you again. you are needed for the task ahead. Courage is needed to repel the tides of War."

Tai felt warmth growing in his chest, it was a feeling he hadn't had in a long time. He thought they had released the powers of the crests to protect their own digital world, but there was no mistaking this feeling in his heart. His hand went to his chest and, sure enough, when he looked down he could see a light shining beneath his hand, the familiar orange light of the crest of Courage. He looked back up, eyes wide, "But I thought we gave up these powers. Isn't it needed to protect the Digital World?"

"there is a greater threat. this is a great world and anything is possible here, especially for the children chosen to protect it. you should know better than to think the manifestation of courage would ever truly leave you." The mysterious voice seemed bemused by his reaction. Tai wasn't sure if he should feel better about this or not. After all, it wasn't like he needed the crest to digivolve Agumon, not when Azulongmon had granted them the ability a while ago. As if reading his thoughts the voice responded, "there is more to the powers of the crest than you realize, than Gennai or the Harmonious Ones ever realized."

Now THAT was hard for Tai to believe, but the voice sounded so sure. Tai looked down, removing his hand to see the shape of the crest glowing on his chest. It reminded him of his final battle with Apocalymon and he was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing. As Tai looked up towards the figure he couldn't quite see, Tai realized the nature of the light around him had changed. The warm orange glow was slowly being changed to an ominous shade of red. Tai shifted anxiously, he didn't understand what was going on but the nature of this place (he was reluctant to call it a dream) had changed.

Suddenly the red light became a towering figure holding a sword and with a cry of rage the figure rushed at Tai. Tai yelped and jumped back just as the sword swiped at his body. The figure continued to attack, howling with rage and hatred but his form was still unclear to Tai, and although he had a feeling it was not the same figure that had spoken to him earlier.

And on cue, the voice echoed in his ear, "when Courage is corrupted by the wrath of War, the chosen must step forward to show the true mark of bravery." He didn't know what that meant, but apparently it was supposed to be helpful. Tai didn't see HOW it was helpful, it wouldn't save him from the sword. He knew it was futile but he brought his hand up to shield himself as the sword and the figure came bearing down on him again. "AAAAAH!"

But the blow never came. Tai looked up and saw that a sword had appeared between him and the red-glowing figure. The sword between them pulsed with energy and Tai realized it looked like the same energy that had flowed around Takuya. What was even more surprising was the sword's hilt seemed to be styled much like the Crest of Courage. It was rounded and had spokes like a sun with one of the spokes stretching out to make the actual blade of the sword. For some reason, the sword reminded him a bit of Omnimon's sword, but it was clearly meant to be wielded by someone smaller, someone possibly like Tai. Its power seemed to keep the figure at bay and no matter how hard he pressed against it, the pulse from the blade kept him back. The red light began to fade as the orange light overcame it and soon it was just Tai and the sword left in a field of orange light.

"What. the. heck," Tai managed to get out, not used to such strange things happening, even in his adventures in the digital world. He felt drawn to the sword that was left behind and reached out for it, but before he could touch it the dream ended and Tai found himself lying on his mat again, hand outstretched towards the sky. Tai blinked and sat up. He felt strangely empty, like he was missing something. However, his chest still felt warm from the glow of the crest and he had to double check to make sure he, himself, wasn't glowing.

Everyone was silent as Tai and Koji finished sharing their dreams. Between the two of them, they weren't sure what was more troubling, the dreams themselves or the fact that they had been so similar. Remembering what had happened to Takuya and now this, Tai was starting to worry what changes they were going to experience here in this version of the digital world. He felt uncomfortable. At least Takuya was USED to fighting as a digimon, Tai may have been his team's leader but he'd never actually done much fighting. Sure, fist fights in school were one thing but the thought of battling a digimon troubled him. He shook it off, "Any thoughts?"

"Just that this place is getting weirder by the minute," Davis muttered, promptly receiving an elbow from Veemon. "Ow!"

Ken shook his head but looked over at Tai, "Davis has a point though. This is beyond anything we've dealt with before. These powers or abilities...I'm not sure I'm ready for something like that." He was even less of a fighter than Tai and the prospect scared him a bit. Wormmon nudged his partner, they had talked about this some last night especially when Ken couldn't sleep.

"Well, there isn't much we can do about it is there," Matt piped up, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm not complaining, but the digital world never seems to give us much choice in the matter as to what they're going to throw at us. We just have to be ready for whatever happens and do the best we can." He was looking at Tai as he said this but it was directed at everyone present. He was no stranger to the digital world throwing them curveballs at every turn. "What we can focus on is doing what we set out to do in the first place. Go to this Apollomon guy and see what's up. If there is some kind of War brewing it's got to be related to him."

There wasn't much argument there. Apollomon did seem to be at the center of all this, especially if they considered Koji's dream. Ken looked down at Wormmon and felt a pang of sadness, "Are we just going to leave this village undefended then. It was just destroyed, it doesn't seem right to just leave them behind without helping first."

"This village was probably going to be attacked anyway," Henry said, ever the realist.

Agumon huffed, "That's not a very nice thing to say!"

But Henry ignored him and continued, "And Dianamon gave us a mission. We can help these digimon best by doing what Matt said and getting to Apollomon as soon as possible, especially if he has more forces like the ones that attacked yesterday."

"The boy's right," a familiar voice said and they all turned to see Superstarmon standing nearby. "Just came to check on you lot and see that you were planning on headin' out soon. Not rushin' you or nothing but the desert ain't far from here and figured you all would wanna head on out." Superstarmon was not alone, next to him was the ever present Grizzlymon and both of them seemed to be carrying large stacks of cloth.

"We can't just leave you like this," Ken insisted, rising from his spot on the ground, "Your homes were destroyed and-"

"That is our burden to bare," Grizzlymon said, smiling slightly at his kindness, "We appreciate it, we do, but we can rebuild ourselves and as the chosen ones you are the only ones capable of defeating Apollomon and his hoards. We are counting on you to do this for us since we must stay behind and repair the village."

It was clear that they were not going to take no for an answer. Superstarmon stepped forward and held out the pile, "Not that we're sending you out empty handed. We managed to rescue these. They're special cloaks made for traveling the desert area. They'll protect you from the harsher weather there and could be good for layin' low from Apollomon." The cloaks were a light brown bordering on white and made of a durable but breathable material. The boys and even some of the larger digimon got some. "We can't give ya much else, but I'm sure you understand."

"We do. Thank you," Henry spoke for the group, bowing his head in gratitude. The rest of the boys followed his gesture.

Superstarmon nodded, "Now then. Ya'll should stop by and see us when all this is over. Thanks to all the hubbub I didn't get to really properly meet with ya for myself. But fighting alongside you all was a real treat." He gave them a thumbs up and then turned to leave.

Grizzlymon chuckled and nodded to the boys as she, too, turned to leave, "Please take care. We appreciate all you have done for us in fighting the fire...we will tell Dianamon of your progress and may she bless the rest of your way."

As she left Koji gasped, snapping his fingers. The group turned to him. "What's up," Takuya asked.

"Dianamon! I just realized. THAT was the voice of the figure I saw in my dream who I couldn't quite make out!" Everyone turned to Tai to see if he had the same conclusion. Tai thought about it for a moment, closing his eyes as he once again recalled the dream.

He opened his eyes again and nodded solemnly, "I think it was, yeah. Weird, so you think she sent those dreams to us?"

Koji crossed his arms, "It could have been someone or something using her voice, but it sounds like something she would do and be cryptic about."

"Maybe it was that mysterious well she had," Gabumon suggested, recalling that Dianamon was able to see things through it. She was a powerful digimon and perhaps she had spoken to them in their dreams to help them on the next step of their journey.

"Too bad we can't ask her about it," Agumon remarked, looking up at Tai who still seemed troubled about the dream.

Tai shrugged it off, "Nah. Even if we could she'd probably say something cryptic about us having to discover the answers for ourselves. Anyway, we should head out, if I remember the map right we'll have to cross a river before getting to the desert. We can't stay here and let Apollomon's forces get away with what they did."

And so, the group started heading out of Asphodel Village. Ken glanced back, coming up at the rear of the group. He wished there was more he could do for these digimon. The destruction of their village was a sour reminder of his own time as the Digimon Emperor and he didn't like seeing such things again. Wormmon noticed his partner's lagging and scooted over to him. "Is everything okay, Ken? I know it's hard...but this is a way of helping them too."

Ken sighed as he turned his eyes away from the sight and down to Wormmon, "I know. It's just hard to see things like this and know that I could do more. I WANT to do more, but I guess they can handle repairing the village and...and maybe after we take care of Apollomon we can come back and fix the village as well."

"That's the way Ken," Wormmon chirped before scooting off again. Ken gave him a tiny smile he didn't see and followed behind him.


	11. Episode 11: Dark River

**Author's Note: **Struggled a bit with this chapter. Sometimes the in-between/journey stuff is the hardest to write. But, don't worry, we're getting ever closer to Apollomon! Thanks again for all the reviews!

* * *

><p>(<strong>Episode 11: Dark River<strong>)

The river was a lot bigger than they had anticipated. Not only did it stretch off in both directions, but it was extremely wide and obviously very deep. The water rushed by the shore, almost making the river appear more like rapids than anything else. Henry studied the water's flow for a few minutes before shaking his head, "It seems pretty flooded to me. I don't think we can cross this very easily." He briefly thought about crossing underwater. After all, in the digital world they had previously visited they could breathe underwater because they BELIEVED they could. Henry wasn't sure he wanted to risk it though. It was one thing to try it in the middle of the ocean and with a calm body of water. He was pretty sure if they tried it here they would be swept away, not to mention if they could breathe under water at all. "Is there a bridge anywhere on the map?"

Tai took out the map, tracing the line that indicated the river they were at, "It looks like the closest one is a few miles downstream. Although, there's a little square on here that's much closer that says it's a ferry service."

Henry looked over at the map, trying to gauge the distance for himself before returning his attention to the rushing water, "I think the bridge might be a better option at this point."

"Won't work."

Everyone jumped and spun around; apparently in their study of the map and the river they hadn't noticed the bird-like digimon that had joined their party from behind. Although, some of the digimon had since Guilmon was sniffing at the bird with Terriermon perched on his head. "Where'd you come from?" Takato asked. He pulled out his digivice and looked down at it. It looked a little like a large blue penguin and, sure enough, it identified on his digivice that it was called Penguinmon.

"Down the way. Grizzlymon sent word you were coming with my little brother Bukamon," the Penguinmon replied.

"All right, then what do you mean it won't work," Matt jumped in. "You mean using the bridge?"

Penguinmon nodded, moving past the group and pointing to the river, "Something has been troubling the waters here for some time now. The bridge got washed away just last week and now the only way to cross is by boat." He turned back to look up at the group, his eyes bright with excitement, "But I have a boat and I can get you across! I know these waters like my own tail feathers!"

With a sigh Henry turned to look back at the water. As far as he knew none of them had water-type digimon and using their digimon to swim across would likely get them swept away in the current. They didn't have any way of flying across either, at least not without taking a long time. "Guess we don't really have much of a choice do we," he muttered thoughtfully. The others had come to much the same conclusion.

Takuya finally piped up to confirm, "We'd appreciate a lift."

"Follow me!" Penguinmon chirped and started waddling down the riverbank and before long came upon a very large boat that would easily hold all of them and their digimon. The planks were white and red and it was obvious that there was a small place below deck given the portholes along the side. It had a wooden helm and a bright blue sail rolled up for the moment. Sleeping in the mini-crows' nest atop the sail was a grey and white digimon that Tai and Matt immediately recognized as a Bukamon. The Penguinmon hopped on board the ship and shouted up, "BUKAMON! GET UP! I FOUND OUR PASSENGERS!"

The Bukamon shot up and awake, doing a complete circuit of the crow's nest in panic before peering down at Penguinmon and the group, "Oh! Ah...AHOY!" Bukamon floated down and started prepping the craft for departure. A few looks were exchanged between the boys, even as Davis and Takuya shouted Ahoy back to the Bukamon. The craft certainly didn't LOOK like it could make its way across the roaring rapids of the river. But, again, they had little choice in the matter.

"Well, come on guys!" Davis shouted as he and Veemon hopped on board, "or we're going to sail without you."

"I don't see any life vests," Henry muttered with a frown as he boarded the boat.

Scoffing Terriermon floated over and landed on Henry's shoulder, "Relax Henry. What are the chances of us sinking? We're just crossing a river."

"Please tell me you didn't just jinx the voyage," Matt groaned. He knew all too well what a question like that would bring. It was just asking for trouble and he wasn't sure they would be able to handle much in the middle of the water. Terriermon merely shrugged, he certainly didn't seem to have an issue with what he had just said. The rest of the boys and digimon boarded and a few minutes later Penguinmon was casting off from the dock.

It was difficult going, considering how fast the water was moving. Everyone stayed towards the center of the boat, not wanting to be knocked off as the boat hurtled down the river. Penguinmon and Bukamon did their best to keep them on course though and it didn't appear as if much was in the river in terms of rocks or obstructions. In fact, aside from the ridiculous speeds of the water it didn't look like it would take them long at all to cross. At least, it would have been an easy crossing...if not for the twin blades cutting through the water in the distance.

Koji spotted it first, his eyes widening. "What is that?" He pointed at the silver tips streaming through the water.

On cue the blades rose out of the water followed closely by a digimon of massive proportions, especially for a river. The digimon was mostly white with a blue piece of armor over its head. It had several fins and a long tail that thrashed behind it, helping it gain speed and navigate the river. Its eyes were black and it looked pissed. Bukamon gasped, "That's Tylomon! He's the river's guardian but he...he looks so angry!" The little digimon shuddered and then flew back up to the crow's nest to hide. Tylomon was quickly gaining on them.

Ken frowned, his eyebrows coming together with worry before turning to Penguinmon who was trying to steer them, "Penguinmon. Can we outrun him?"

The little bird shook his head, still straining with his task, "It's impossible! I can try! But he's going to catch us! Tylomon's the fastest thing in the water." Tylomon confirmed that claim a second later when he smashed into the boat. Everyone cried out, trying to hold on but it was a futile effort.

"DAVIS!"

"TAKUYA!"

Veemon and Koji shouted as their friends went flying over board and into the water. The boat miraculously didn't flip but the two boys were quickly being swept away in the current and Tylomon was circling back for another attack. Koji grabbed his digivice and in a flash of white light he shouted, "SPIRIT EVOLUTION."

Even before the light had faded and Lobomon appeared he was diving off the ship. Veemon watched helplessly from the ship, "DAVIS!" Lobomon struggled against the current but swam with all his might after the boys being swept away. Takuya and Davis were very physically fit and decent swimmers but even they could only fight the current so much and stay afloat. Lobomon managed to grab Davis first, but Takuya slipped out of his grasp and went under. "NO!" Lobomon couldn't dive after him, not with Davis in his arms.

And certainly not with Tylomon looming in front of him now. Lobomon stared with wide eyes as the sea-serpent rose from the water and continued to rise. He had to be as tall as some buildings. The worst part though was that Takuya was now firmly wrapped in his tail. The digimon grinned, its sharp teeth reminding Lobomon a bit TOO much of a crocodile. "Hydro-"

"SPIKING STRIKE!"

The stinging attack struck dead center of Tylomon's great armored head. Stingmon had come out of practically nowhere but apparently Wormmon had evolved at some point when Davis fell overboard. Stingmon zipped past the roaring Tylomon and struck at his tail, snatching Takuya out of harm's way. Lobomon couldn't fight holding Davis but he knew he had to get out of there too.

Luckily, Stingmon wasn't the only one coming to the rescue, "Gargo Pellets!" Gargomon stood at the front of the ship, his twin guns aimed at Tylomon. Henry shouted out, "Come on Lobomon! While he's distracted!"

Lobomon didn't question it; Gargomon was the distraction and unfortunately would be drawing the monster back TOWARDS the boat. Lobomon swam for all he was worth and managed to toss Davis back on board, just before Tylomon got really angry.

"HYDRO WAVE!"

A huge wave rolled up behind him and came towards the boat and Lobomon who was still in the water. "HOLD TIGHT!" He heard someone shout before the wave swept over him and pushed him underwater. Lobomon spun head over heels beneath the waves but quickly regained himself and made for the surface. The boat was gone.

"No...No...TAKUYA! TAI! GUYS!" He twisted and turned in the water and it wasn't until he was facing south that he saw the boat smashed on the opposite shore. Lobomon's fear deepened and he started swimming. Tylomon chortled behind him and slipped back beneath the waves before starting to swim after Lobomon now. Lobomon felt a slimy something wrap around his leg and yank him under and he realized then that he was going to drown. What was this? The second time since he'd arrived in this world? He struggled but Tylomon's grip was impossible to break beneath the water and with his arms pinned he couldn't use his attacks. He was already breathless from the swim and he wasn't going to be able to hold out for long. Darkness started to spread across his vision. 'This is it,' Koji thought, 'Wait.' He forced himself to look up and realized that it wasn't darkness creeping across his vision, but actual dark shadows emanating from Tylomon.

'The shadows...turn the tides of War,' he thought from inside the Warrior of Light.

Lobomon closed his eyes and gave himself over to Koji. He was quickly losing consciousness, but he couldn't give up. He knew what he had to do now. A white light surrounded the human, a glow of soft, pixel-like particles that was the formation of a dig soul. The light grew brighter and brighter until it burst out from Koji and drove itself into Tylomon's body. The sea-serpent screeched in pain and trashed about before releasing Koji. The darkness seeped out of the creature's body and dissipated in the water. Koji's eyes snapped open, the light having given him a reprieve and he shot up from the river's bottom. He resurfaced and was so dazed that he nearly slipped back under.

"I've got you."

Koji looked up and saw Stingmon hovering over him, extending a hand. He blinked, not quite understanding but then he looked towards the shore and saw his friends gathered there...wet and a little worse for wear but otherwise in one piece. He couldn't help it, he let out a breath of relief and Stingmon pulled him out before he passed out and slipped back under.

He may not have noticed it, but the waters were a lot calmer now. As soon as he was on dry land he dropped to his knees. He felt so drained and his brain couldn't quite process what had happened. Still, he had to know. "Takuya? Davis?"

Tai was by his side first, putting a hand on Koji's shoulder, Agumon at his side as well, "They're fine, unconscious but fine." Koji's eyes drifted past Tai and he saw that Takuya and Davis were both stretched out, Ken, Takato, Guilmon and Veemon looking after the two. Matt, Gabumon, and Henry appeared to be checking on Penguinmon and Bukamon. Tai looked back at Koji, his face serious, "What hap-" He didn't get the chance to finish his question. The water erupted again as Tylomon arose from the depths eliciting a collective gasp from the gathered Chosen.

Gargomon and Stingmon immediately took up positions of protection in front of the group. But Koji shouted before they could attack, "Wait!"

Then something unexpected happened and Tylomon's head drooped, his black eyes now a dark blue. Instead of anger and rage he looked very much ashamed, "I am sorry Chosen Children. I am normally not so violent but the darkness and corruption that originated in Apollomon's lands spread to my waters. I have caused you all great harm and for that I am deeply sorry." He then directed his attention to Koji, "Thank you."

Koji nodded, "Your darkness is gone."

Tylomon looked at the group and apologized again before slipping back beneath the water. The river was changed, the waters no longer roaring. It was once more a peaceful river. Koji smiled slightly. He'd done that. Not with Lobomon's power over Light, but his own.

Henry frowned at the river before turning to Koji, "Okay...what just happened?"

Koji was weak and he really just wanted to sleep, but he knew he owed everyone an explanation. Besides, he was still trying to process it himself. "Tylomon was being controlled by some kind of darkness, the same as what Dianamon says has Apollomon. I was able to see it and...purify it, I guess would be the best way to describe it."

Ken nodded as though he understood, "So that was the ability Dianamon mentioned you would find...in your dream."

"Right. Just like Takuya can control fire," Tai added. He smiled at Koji, "You did good. But you should probably rest now. That's the second time you've nearly drowned out here." After all, Tai had been the one to rescue him the last time that had happened. He really didn't want to see Koji go through that again. Koji agreed, though he felt like he needed rest more so from using his powers than from actually nearly drowning. Still, he followed Tai's advice and went to lie down. Tai then looked at the rest of them, "We'll wait for everyone to recuperate and then continue. Take a break you guys, if this is a hint for what's to come in the desert I want all of us to be prepared."

* * *

><p>It was some time before Koji woke up again. The rainbow sky shimmered above and he stared at it for a few moments before the events that had transpired sank back in. Koji sat up and looked around. Takuya and Davis were still asleep next to him, Veemon sitting nearby and holding up a hand in greeting to Koji. Ken and Wormmon sat nearby as well and Ken smiled gently, "You're awake."<p>

Koji nodded, "Where is everyone?"

"Matt and Gabumon are scouting the area," Ken began, ticking off names, "Henry and Terriermon are helping Penguinmon with his ship. Takato and Guilmon are working on salvaging our supplies and Tai and Agumon are over there trying to dry out the map. And, as you can see, Takuya and Davis are still out of it from their near drowning...but they're okay besides." Ken gestured at the sleeping boys before looking back to Koji, "I wanted to thank you for that...saving Davis I mean. All of us do." Wormmon nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! That was great and Davis and I really owe you own," Veemon added.

Koji shook his head, "You don't owe me. You guys saved Takuya, remember?"

Veemon shook his head, "No, Stingmon and Ken did that. I still owe you."

The boy realized he wasn't going to convince Veemon otherwise and stood up, "I'll go see what Tai needs help with. Let me know when Takuya wakes up." Ken agreed that he would and Koji went to see if he could do anything in the meantime.

It wasn't long, however, before the sleepy heads woke up and everyone regrouped to explain to them what had happened after they had nearly drowned. Both Takuya and Davis were immensely grateful to Ken, Wormmon, and Koji much to their embarrassment. Mostly though they were just glad that Tylomon wasn't really evil and that the river was back to normal. But, they couldn't hang out at the water's edge for long, they were on a mission and it was time to say goodbye to Penguinmon and Bukamon.

Takato smiled sheepishly as he added, "We're sorry about your boat."

"It's okay. Tylomon is better now and the bridge and the boat can be fixed. Plus, Bukamon and I can swim. We'll be fine."

"Hey, you still got us here. We're really grateful for that," Takuya piped up, hefting his supplies onto his back.

Penguinmon saluted him, "It was our duty. You guys take care and if you are on this river again just give us a shout!" As everyone shouted their goodbyes, Penguinmon and Bukamon dove into the water. They had to get supplies to fix their boat so they'd be back.

Tai was the first to drop his hand and turned back towards the path. The map had been salvaged mostly thanks to the fire Agumon had made and they were ready to go, "Well. Let's go. We should be in Muspelheim City by nightfall."

Unlike Dianamon's fortress which rested deep within her forest, Apollomon's main city was what marked the beginning of the desert area known as Tartarus. The city itself was the last oasis before one entered the hellish desert area and was once known for its pristine beauty. Travelers from all over came to Muspelheim City to enjoy its exotic flair and comforting heat. Of course, now, the heat was nearly unbearable and they weren't even NEAR the desert yet. The boys had graciously put on the cloaks that Grizzlymon and the digimon of Asphodel Village had given them. It was a small comfort against the scorching heat, but they were grateful for it.

Despite the heat though, Muspelheim was a beautiful city and they knew it as soon as they saw it from a distance. It rose up with large, white walls and columns that were dotted and striped with colors like red, gold, and orange. It almost looked more like a grand Egyptian temple more so than any city they had seen before. It was a city that looked as though it were made of fire and it seemed just the opposite of what someone would want to build on the edge of a desert.

As they came closer, however, the group began to realize that the beauty was only at a distance. It was Takato that spotted what was wrong first, his eyes widening as he got a good look at what else decorated the walls. "No way."

"What is it?" Davis asked, stopping and turning to look at Takato who had turned pale. Everyone else came to a stop as well.

Takato pointed at the walls, "Look. Just look really close at the walls. Something's...hanging from them."

"Maybe it's just decorations," Veemon suggested, although he felt a tingling in his spine as he studied them. He looked up to Davis and Ken, both of whom looked uncertain...though Ken especially looked grim.

Finally Ken spoke up, "We'll only know if we get closer...come on."

It wasn't decorations. It didn't take them much longer to get close enough to make out what was hanging from the walls. Ken looked away, closing his eyes and Henry didn't last much longer either. Hanging from the walls on long chains was several Frigimon. They were spaced evenly along the wall and there had to be at least ten of them on the front wall alone. The white, snowman-type digimon were obviously suffering. They were not made for the desert climate and they appeared to be a lot slimmer than any Frigimon had a right to be.

"I...I don't believe it," Takuya stammered. His look of horror however was quickly replaced with one of anger. How could a digimon DO this to another? It wasn't just fighting, this was torture!

"They're melting," Takato whispered, his eyes following the trail of water streaming down from each one. "Apollomon is actually melting them!"

Davis clenched his fist, "We have to help them! Come on Veemon we'll-"

"Wait." Matt chided, grabbing Davis by his shirt before he could do anything rash. "We can't just rush in. This is Apollomon's fortress! If we just attack we'll get ourselves killed."

Davis whirled around, "Come on Matt! We can't just LEAVE them there. They're...they're DYING!" He gestured at the wall. They were still far enough away that the sentries atop the wall hadn't spotted them, but if they continued to walk much further the line of the forest would die and give way to open desert and open sight on their group.

Ken took a breath and finally looked up, "We have to wait. We have to see what the defenses are like. We can help those digimon best by taking out Apollomon. We need to scout around the walls and find an opening that isn't the main gate." He hated saying that. The digimon in chains, dying and suffering digimon...it reminded him too much of his own deeds. 'At least you kept digimon in their right element' he thought bitterly.

Finally, Tai spoke. He was quiet and obviously just as disturbed by what he saw as the others. Still, unlike the other goggle heads, Tai was better at keeping himself in check. He took a breath, "Ken is right. Releasing those Frigimon is only going to make matters worse. We need to check out the castle without being seen and make sure we know what we're getting into." He studied the group for a moment. They were reluctant, but even Takuya had to relent. Tai nodded and continued, pointing towards the left side of the fort, "I'm going to take Agumon, Koji, Matt and Gabumon, and Henry and Terriermon around the left side of the city to see what we find." He then pointed to the right side of the city, "Davis. You take Veemon, Ken, Wormmon, Takuya, and Takato and Guilmon on the right. We'll circle the city and gather intel before meeting on the north side of the city and discuss our movement from there. The most important thing is to stay out of sight. Sound like a plan?"

The plan was agreed on and Tai nodded before heading towards the left, keeping to the trees for now. Takuya watched them leave, his expression turning from neutral to a deep frown. He turned to face the wall, the fire in his heart flaring up and making his palms heat up. He swore to himself then and there that he would rescue the Frigimon. Maybe not now, but he would make sure that each and every one of them was freed before this was over.

"Takuya! Come on," Davis called, pulling him from his thoughts. Takuya turned away from the wall and followed his group towards the city.


	12. Episode 12: Breaching the Wall

**Author's Note:** So practically a year since I last updated. I'd really like to apologize for that. I started work back in the fall and that schedule was harsh. I had to learn how to do a new job with crazy hours and did a lot of work at home to boot. For awhile I also lost the drive for this story. But, it's back and while I cannot promise regular updates of any sort, summer is approaching and with summer comes more free time to work on fan projects like this. I appreciate all of the people reading this and was more than a little surprised when I was still getting notifications of people following this story or putting it on their favorites. Thanks for your support guys, that was another reason I decided to come back to this idea.

* * *

><p>(<strong>Episode 12: Breaching the Wal<strong>l)

Things did not go smoothly on their intelligence gathering. Cries and shouts resounded everywhere and Ken pushed himself up from the sand as he tried to make sense of it all. Where had things gone wrong? He didn't want to point fingers and honestly he probably should have been the first to step up when they had seen the digimon tortured from the walls. If not then, he certainly should have taken action when he had seen more of it when they got closer. Ken shuddered and his eyes hardened with determination. Whatever the case, it was too late to go back now.

"Ken! Get down!"

Agunimon jumped in front of Ken just as a Birdramon unleashed its fiery storm of meteors. Explosions resounded around them and Ken realized that this could really all be traced back to Takuya.

It all started when Davis and their group had gotten closer to the walls of the fortress city. Muspelheim was even bigger than it had looked from a distance and from outside its walls you could still hear the hustle and bustle of hundreds and thousands of Digimon living their lives. Getting inside such a place was not going to be easy, but hopefully Tai and the others would have found an entrance on their tour of the wall because so far the only entrance their group had found was the main one that was heavily guarded.

"I guess we're not going to be able to rely on tunnels this time," Davis muttered, thinking of how they have infiltrated Dianamon's fort.

"Things can't always be that easy Davis," Ken replied with a slight smile. Leave it to Davis to have such faith in miracles to get them inside. Ken glanced over his shoulder, trying to keep his eyes away from the Digimon hanging above them on the walls. Takuya was looking a little pale and Ken couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with the digimon above them. "Are you okay, Takuya?"

Takuya looked down, blinking and took a moment to figure out what the question had been. "Hm? Yeah fine. I just want to get this over with and see if we can do anything about the digimon."

Ken nodded, he understood. The treatment was as bad as some of the things he had done in his past. It was not helping his memories of those darker times and as much as he wanted to help the digimon he knew it would only happen if they could ultimately stop Apollomon. Ken was about to say something else to Takuya in hopes of reassuring him but the sound of a whip cracking stopped Ken cold in his tracks.

The sound repeated, this time accompanied by a gruff voice. "Come on maggots! The moat ain't gonna build itself!" The group pressed against a nearby alcove in the wall and glanced around it, attempting to still stay out of sight. Davis noticed Ken still standing in shock and jerked him back by the arm. The sight before them was just as bad as anything else they had encountered. A Meramon loomed over a group of In-Training and Rookie digimon bearing shovels and pick axes trying to dig into the dry dirt surrounding the fortressed city. Meramon's whip was thankfully not on fire but he seemed bound and determined to continue to use it for motivation. Many of the small digimon looked ready to drop and Ken turned his head away when he heard the whip crack again. "Faster!"

Ken knew closing his eyes wasn't going to do any good. He could still hear the whip crack over and over and now it was coming from his memories as well. His hands balled into fists and just as he was about to shout to stop it another voice did it for him, a familiar voice.

"Stop it!" Takuya shouted as he stepped in front of the digimon about to receive a whipping and caught the whip around his forearm, holding it up to block. As soon as the whip touched his arm it burst into flames. The flames were hot enough to reduce the whip to ash and it crumbled away in no time, flaking off and blowing out into the desert. Takuya lowered his arm and stepped forward, "I'm not going to just stand by and let you torture these digimon. Release them and the Frigimon, now." His voice was full of authority and there was a dangerous gleam in his eye. The Meramon stared at him in shock for several seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Child of flames you may be...but my orders don't come from a little punk like you."

Takato glanced at Ken, Davis, and the digimon, "So it looks like we're not doing the whole 'sneaking in' thing anymore." He didn't sound upset about it and his digivice was already in his hand.

Davis couldn't help but grin and pulled out his own, "Looks like. Veemon?"

The ground shook and Meramon's laughter died away. He opened his eyes and looked up to find a Stingmon, Growlmon, and Flamedramon now standing behind the boy he had been laughing at and now that boy, too, was covered in more flames and pulling out a strange device. "H-hey! What are you planning? You can't-."

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

Agunimon roared forward and tackled Meramon to the ground, shoving his flaming head in to the sand. Meramon wasn't down for long and aimed a kick at Agunimon's midsection, knocking him backwards. He then held his hand in the air and shot off a single fireball. Agunimon scoffed, "With aim like that, you'll never win."

It was Meramon's turn to scoff. "That fireball wasn't for you…but if you really want one. MAGMA BOMB!" Hundreds of fireballs suddenly rained from the sky, mostly aimed for Agunimon but of course with so many a few went astray. While the digimon had been going for Meramon the boys had focused their attention on getting the smaller digimon out of the way. Unfortunately, this put them right in the line of incoming fire. They were not aware of this, however, and didn't realize they were under attack until suddenly Flamedramon and Growlmon were there. Flamedramon absorbed many of the flames while Growlmon used his bulk to block the rest. Shield in place, Stingmon then swept in and scooped up the boys and digimon into his arms and moved them out of the way and closer to the protection of the walls.

"Stay here," Stingmon said, turning his head back to the fight, "We'll handle Meramon." He was about to return to the fight when he paused and looked up. Ken seemed to sense something in his partner's stance and looked up as well. Ken's face immediately went pale, "Oh no." Takuya and Davis both looked skyward now as well and saw dozens of Birdramon flying over the walls of Muspelheim. Clearly, Meramon had summoned them with that fireball. The Birdramon were not alone either because clinging to their claws was several other Meramon.

Davis looked back to the digimon fighting on the ground, "I don't think they realize what's coming!"

Ken nodded and turned his glance to his partner, "Stingmon. You need to take care of some of that air force." Stingmon didn't respond except to nod and then shoot back up into the sky. Ken turned to Takato and Davis, "Think we can handle this without Tai and the others?"

There was no time for an answer. Stingmon was only one digimon and soon the Birdramon and Meramon forces were in the battle as well. Agunimon was a tornado of flame while Flamedramon and Growlmon fought on either side of him, attempting to strike down Birdramon. They fell from the sky and Stingmon's aerial aid was helpful as well. However, there were just too many for four digimon to take alone. Amid the chaos Ken noticed something else too. At first he couldn't identify it but then his eyes fell on a small digimon, a Salamon, still in the middle of the battle, trying to hide itself in the sand and get away from the fight. Unfortunately, he was always stopped by another burst of flame or a foot crashing down.

He didn't think about it. He just ran forward as both Davis and Takato shouted after him. Ken heard a Birdramon cry above him, preparing its attack, but he ignored it. All he focused on was that Salamon curled up in the midst of all that chaos. Ken dove and crashed into the sand, curling his body around to protect the digimon as the world exploded around him.

Cries and shouts resounded everywhere and Ken pushed himself up from the sand, clutching the Salmon close to his chest. "It's okay," he said in a soft voice. Ken looked around him and shuddered. Things had gotten so out of hand and he couldn't help but to think that maybe he could have done more to prevent it.

"Ken! Get down!"

Agunimon jumped in front of Ken just as a Birdramon unleashed another fiery storm of meteors. Explosions resounded around them once more and Ken closed his eyes to avoid getting more sand and dirt in them. Suddenly, the ground shook again and the Birdramon attacking them crashed into the sand. A moment later Stingmon landed as well and offered a hand to Agunimon. The digimon rose and both looked to Ken. "Come on Ken," Stingmon said, his voice full of relief that his partner was still alive, "This battle is nearly done." Ken blinked and then looked over to see that most of the fire digimon were down. The fighting may have seemed fierce but it looked like Growlmon and Flamedramon had knocked many of them unconscious. He nodded and was about to run back over to the others when a dark shadow blotted out the sun.

The figure descended like a falling star, covered in bright flames. It landed in the middle of everyone and the heat exploded outwards, knocking almost everyone to the ground. Agunimon managed to stay standing but even he was brought to his knees. The figure rose and his red armor glinted in the sun. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was Apollomon.

His voice boomed out across the desert, "What is the meaning of this? Who are you and why do you attack my subjects?"

Davis pushed himself to his feet first and looked grumpy about it. "Meaning? You're the one torturing poor digimon!"

"What?"

"They hang from your walls," Flamedramon added, his eyes narrowed in a serious manner. Apollomon was powerful and if they were going to have to fight him it was NOT going to be pretty. Still, he wasn't going to back down just because of that or else why would he have the armor of courage? What disturbed him though was Apollomon's confusion. Even now the towering lion-man looked baffled by these accusations. He frowned and looked up to the walls of Muspelheim. When he saw the chained digimon melting in the sun he gasped.

"What is…who has done this?" Even as he asked the question recognition seemed to dawn on him and he turned to the unconscious minions that the boys had originally thought belonged to him. "I should have known. The Darkness spreads…even here." Apollomon's hands were suddenly covered in white hot flames which he shot at his own digimon. The Chosen and their digimon gasped but Apollomon held up a hand, "Fear not. This is a flame of purifying properties. It will release them from their darkness and return them to what they once were." The flames burned and were absorbed into the bodies of the Meramon and Birdramon, all of whom slowly stirred and seemed to be in no pain. Shadows melted away from them and out of their bodies before being absorbed in the desert sand.

Takato blinked in surprise, "Okay. I was not expecting that."

The others looked surprised as well, all except Agunimon who only frowned at Apollomon. Ken, standing near him, looked up as he noticed the frown. "What's wrong Takuya?"

The digimon frowned but then shook his head as if to clear it. "I'll…tell you later." Flames covered the body of Agunimon and he swiftly returned to Takuya. Takuya looked even less amused than Agunimon had but said nothing. He just continued to study Apollomon and Ken got the distinct impression that he did not trust anything that had just happened.

"Please. Forgive my guard. It has been trying these past few weeks. Strange things have been happening around Muspelheim City and the Darkness seems to grow stronger here by the day."

"We were under the impression that you were in league with it, actually." Davis blurted out.

"Davis!" Flamedramon admonished him.

Apollomon merely shook his head, looking sad, "I will have to explain myself. I invite you and your partners to enter Muspelheim City to hear the details of what has truly been going on in my borders." The digimon turned to the collected Meramon and Birdramon, "Return to your posts and free the Frigimon. I will find out who is behind this but for now please welcome this group into the City. Find Coronamon and tell him to meet them at the front gates." The Meramon and Birdramon all bowed before taking off to their various tasks.

"Uh, we also have some others with us…they probably don't know what's going on," Takato added, looking up and watching the Birdramon fly back into the city. Apollomon nodded to acknowledge this.

"I will see to it that they join you at the front gates and from there you shall all be welcomed into my castle's halls to hear everything." He turned away from them then and with a mighty jump returned to the walls himself. It seemed entering Muspelheim would be easier than they had anticipated. However, it was still left to be seen whether or not that was a good thing.

After a moment Davis sighed, shoulders drooping, "Tai is going to kill us."

* * *

><p>"OW!"<p>

"I can't believe you guys did that!" Tai scolded, pulling his hand back that he had just used to smack Davis upside his head. Davis rubbed at it with a frown while the others chuckled nervously.

"It wasn't his fault. I acted without asking." Takuya had his hands in his pockets and didn't look apologetic for it, just that he was clarifying.

Davis nodded and Veemon chirped up, "Besides. It all worked out in the end."

It certainly seemed that way. Both Davis' group and Tai's were now standing in the very heart of Muspelheim City which was also Apollomon's castle. Coronamon, a small flame-type digimon, had met them at the front gates just as Apollomon had said and led them here. It had been a brief tour of the city, but even the skeptics like Takuya and Henry had to admit that it didn't look like the kind of place an evil overlord would rule. Maybe Dianamon didn't have all of the facts or perhaps someone else had already helped free Apollomon from the darkness.

Whatever the case they would find out soon enough from Apollomon himself as Coronamon led them through the front hall and into the throne room. Apollomon sat on a throne made of gold and with various sun motifs decorated in rubies and other brightly colored gems. It was a huge contrast from Dianamon's much more natural surroundings. Coronamon bowed when they entered. "I have brought them as you asked, sire."

The godly digimon bowed his head and with a wave of his hand dismissed the smaller digimon from the room. He was now alone with the children and rose from his throne, "I hope I will be able to explain everything. As I understand it, you are the children sent to this world to help Yggdrasil. Correct?"

"I think that goes without saying," Matt retorted. "What really confuses us is that Dianamon sent us to check _you_ out because she was under the impression you were attacking her forest and hurting her digimon."

The look on Apollomon's face was of genuine surprise. HE did not seem to understand these allegations at all. Finally he replied, "Impossible. I would never attack my sister."

"But we saw you! Dianamon showed us an attack you launched against her." Koji stepped forward. He hadn't spoken to Takuya about it yet, but they actually shared the same opinion about all this. Something wasn't right here. "Not to mention the same Digimon that attacked Asphodel Village were the ones that attacked Davis and the others just outside your city. How do you explain all of that?"

Apollomon sat on his throne and looked very disturbed by this news. He thought it over and then could only shake his head. "I can account for those who attacked Asphodel. The darkness that plagues Yggdrasil has found its way into my castle and has taken some of the city's populace. However it is strange that you say I was part of the attacks. I swear to you that I have not led any such assault on my sister. Why has she not come to me about this?" He fell silent and leaned forward, bridging his hands together as he went further into thought, "Perhaps someone is creating an illusion of my appearance to raise strife between myself and Dianamon." Apollomon looked up, "Children. I ask of you to stay in my city for a few days and investigate these matters. Perhaps I have been blinded to the truth but if anyone can see through what is occurring here it is you. Will you do this? I will provide rooms in the castle for your stay of course and I will try to send word to Dianamon of this misunderstanding."

The group exchanged looks. Some, like Takuya and Koji, shook their heads. They wanted to investigate but they also wanted to do so out of Apollomon's grip. They said as much but it was Henry that countered them. "That may be the case, but we can also keep a closer eye on what is going on here if we stay in the castle."

"But what if it's a trap," Koji argued.

Tai nodded but he also saw Henry's point. "How about a compromise then. Some of us will camp outside of the walls and report any strange activity that occurs there while the others stay inside the walls and do the same."

"It would give us a better vantage point," Henry agreed.

"I'll keep watch outside with Koji," Takuya said.

Surprisingly Ken moved closer to Takuya and Koji, "I think I'll stay with them. I'd like to speak to those digimon we helped earlier today as well."

Davis grinned, "Well if Ken's camping out I guess I'll join him then."

"Okay, then Takato and Henry, you'll stay with Matt and me inside the walls," Tai said, glad that this plan seemed to be coming together nicely. He then turned to Apollomon, "We've decided only a few of us will be sleeping in the castle, Apollomon. Hope that's okay."

The lord of fire digimon shrugged and rose from his throne, "As you wish. Perhaps I can interest you in some food at least before you depart?"

Davis opened his mouth to agree but Takuya quickly stomped on his foot and Koji put a hand over his mouth. Ken blinked and then seemed to understand that the two boys wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. "We'll just grab something in the city proper I think. Thank you, Apollomon."

High above them, hiding amid the intricate sculptures of the throne room's ceiling was none other than Flybeemon. She frowned as the four boys and two of their digimon departed. "Darn. I will have to inform him that the plan has failed to entrap all of them. Although it seems they are not going far." She hovered in the shadows a moment longer. Both to make sure that the boys did not see her leave and to make sure she did not miss anything new, when neither occurred she nodded and then flew out of a nearby opening in the ceiling.

"I wonder who that was," Guilmon muttered to Terriermon, his yellow eyes focused on the ceiling above.

"Who?" Terriermon looked up but didn't see anything on the ceiling. "They're just statues Guilmon."

"Oh. Never mind."


	13. Episode 13: Awaken Apollomon's Wrath

**Author's Note**: Once again, thanks for reviews, following, and most importantly for being patient. Obviously I can't promise regularly scheduled updates but I'm trying my best to keep the story going. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p>(<strong>Episode 13: Awaken Apollomon's Wrath<strong>)

With Takuya and the others gone, Apollomon quickly insisted upon showing the rest of them the parts of the castle left unseen. There was much more to see here than had been at Dianamon's fort and Apollomon seemed to have a love for the extravagant that Dianamon lacked. There was gold, marble, and jewels everywhere. Tai wasn't very good at history but many of the decorations reminded him of something he had seen when studying Egypt…or maybe Rome. Every room was more lavish than the last and Tai knew his mouth had to be hanging open from all the splendor.

"This place is massive!" Takato exclaimed as they made their way into another open air courtyard. "Just when I think we've reached the end there's another room or corridor."

Henry shook his head, "Massive. Try impossible. There's no way this matches with what we saw outside."

Apollomon chuckled at their bafflement, "Ancient magic, but you are correct, the interior is meant to be larger than the exterior. After all, very few digimon in my domain live outside of this city and I must accommodate all of them who seek my protection. My sister has her forest to spread out in, but I must protect my subjects from the heat of the desert."

"Interesting," Henry mused.

"Come. Let me show you the real reason I have brought you to the center of my domain." Apollomon led them into the courtyard proper, weaving through a path of golden brick. On either side were hedges trimmed and shaped into massive walls that even Apollomon would struggle to see over, the hedges were dotted with white roses that left a heavy fragrance in the air. As they walked Tai couldn't help but feel that the path was familiar somehow. The shape of it was one he had encountered before, though he couldn't place where. He'd never been in a castle like this before. He quickly shook it off as his imagination.

The path eventually let out into an open circle in the center with what looked like a miniature temple in the center. Tai stopped in his tracks as he saw what was held in the temple. The temple was made of pure marble and despite being in the open air appeared to be undamaged or worn by weather. Even the gold inlaid in the various inscriptions were untouched by time and shone brilliant in the light cast by Yggdrasil's branches. The temple was open on all sides so it was easy to see what it was being used for and that was what drew Tai's eyes. At the very center of the temple was a sword with its hilt artfully shaped into that of the crest of Courage. It was the sword from Tai's dream.

"No way," he murmured.

"What is it Tai?" Agumon asked, looking up at him with concern.

Before Tai could speak Apollomon chuckled. "I see the Sword of Valor has caught your eye. I thought that it might. I have a knack for sensing those who are tied to fire." Apollomon strode forward and the boys followed. He stopped just outside of the temple and gestured towards the sword that stood embedded in the temple's very foundation. "The Sword of Valor is a very rare artifact indeed and has been at this site for as long as Yggdrasil has been in existence, or so the saying goes. There is a prophecy that says only one touched by the fire of courage and with a heart as pure as the steel's blade may wield it. The unworthy will be burned alive if they try to pull it from its resting place."

Tai felt warmth spreading through his chest and he brought a hand to rest over his heart. He felt like the sword was calling to him, but after that story he wasn't so sure he wanted to try it. Tai noticed Matt was looking at him and dropped his hand, covering his mouth and pretending to cough. "That's a pretty heavy story, Apollomon."

"Indeed. But such stories are what make this realm what it is. Come, I am sure that a feast has been prepared for your arrival by now. I have to check with my general and discuss the matter of this misunderstanding with Dianamon and then I shall meet you there." Apollomon turned towards one of the pathways and called out, "Coronamon. See to our guests again, will you?"

Another of the small, lion-like digimon stepped forward with a bow and started to lead the boys away from Apollomon. Matt hadn't taken his eyes off of Tai and hung back in order to speak with him as they walked away. "That was it, wasn't it? It looked like the sword you told us about."

Tai swallowed and nodded, "Yeah, but what's it doing here and with Apollomon no less? Do you think he knows?"

"If he knew, why did he show you exactly where it was? Why show us any of this? I dunno Tai, I'm starting to wonder if maybe Takuya and the others had a point." Matt had to fight the urge to glance back at Apollomon. In no time they were out of the maze and heading back into the castle proper.

"Maybe. We'll just have to see and keep an eye on him like we said we would." Tai could already feel that warm feeling in his chest begin to fade. He had to admit that it wasn't the sword that scared him…it was the other part of the dream. The figure bathed in red light that had tried to kill him. Was that Apollomon or some other digimon? Tai shook the image out of his head, shuddering.

"Don't worry Tai, Gabumon and I can make sure nothing happens to you and Matt," Agumon replied.

Gabumon nodded in agreement. "That's right. It won't be the first time and it won't be the last."

Tai gave both digimon a small smile and a nod. He had Agumon and he had Matt and Gabumon. He could rely on them to help him no matter what came for him. He just had to hope that what was coming wasn't something that they couldn't handle. After all, Dianamon had said they wouldn't have access to their higher forms of evolution until they have proven themselves to Yggdrasil. He just hoped they didn't have to die in order to prove it.

* * *

><p>Apollomon was not at all surprised to find his general already waiting for him in the throne room. It was one reason that he was Apollomon's general, he was always right there at hand to follow his commands. Apollomon greeted his general with a slight bow of his head and even a smile. The General was only a foot or two shorter than Apollomon himself and was coated in flames around his arms and shoulders. His eyes glinted beneath the Gabumon-like headdress he wore. As soon as Apollomon entered his court the General got to one knee, "Lord Apollomon."<p>

"General Marsmon. I am glad to see you have returned. There are things I need to discuss with you immediately."

Marsmon rose, his black cape billowing around him as he did. He had a gravelly voice that held none of Apollomon's apparent mirth. "Yes, my lord."

Apollomon made his way to his throne and casually seated himself, not at all aware of the tension in the air. "The troop movements you have been detecting from across the river. Are you certain they are from my sister? I have just met with the children of the prophecy and they seem to believe _we_ are the ones attacking Dianamon…not the other way around."

"My lord," Marsmon snorted, "They are _children_. Prophecy or not, how much can they really know about the ways of digimon. I have reported to you what I have seen at the borders of your land and I must advise that we advance as we have already been preparing to do."

Apollomon shook his head, "I don't know Marsmon. These children are pure of heart…I can feel it. I do not think they would lead us astray."

"Perhaps not intentionally, sire." There was a growl in his voice.

The lord of the fire realm sighed. He felt so tired as of late and he had no explanation for it. "I confess Marsmon. I am worried about my sister and the appearance of these chosen. You know the prophecies and stories as well as I do and what their appearance could mean for Yggdrasil. Dianamon is a fierce warrior but she has always been just. I cannot imagine that she would move against me without provocation. Are we doing the right thing here, Marsmon?"

Marsmon was silent for some time. He knew he could approach the next move in a number of ways. However, he was sensing the doubt in Apollomon. He knew that if his master detected the darkness blossoming too soon he would fight it. Perhaps it would be better to move now. All of the forces were in place…they only needed Apollomon to take up the sword. "It shows weakness to question your conviction, Apollomon. You forget how passionately the digimon of fire will follow you. It is that love that I have always envied and have coveted for some time."

Apollomon's brow furrowed. "What…are you saying Marsmon."

"I am saying that it is no longer your choice. A game has been set into motion, no, a _wa_r. A war that will shift the balance of power to someone who is TRULY tied to the flames and can lead the Digimon of this land back into the old ways of battles and tests of strength and true valor. Yggdrasil has grown weak. You and your sister have grown weak. It is time for a change." Marsmon pulled his hand from behind his cape. It was no longer coated in flames but in pure darkness. It pulsed in a sickly way and seemed to slither around his hand. Before Apollomon could react Marsmon blasted the darkness at him. The darkness hit Apollomon square in the chest, although it was less a physical blow and more of an impact that slowly sank into his flesh.

Apollomon howled as the darkness sank into him, his veins throbbing out and the flames that made him up dimming slightly before flaring out. The flames went from yellow-orange to dark, crimson red and tinted with black. Apollomon fell to his knees, clutching his chest and his body twitching as he fought the darkness seeping through his body. How could he have been so blind to this? The darkness of Yggdrasil and his own weariness, it was all connected. Apollomon tried to hold on to himself but it was too much. This was old darkness, as Marsmon had indicated, it was darkness from wars and death and despair. It was too much and Apollomon was overwhelmed. He slumped forward and Marsmon stepped towards him.

"I have worked too hard and given up too much for you to gain a conscience now. I will destroy the children. I will destroy Dianamon. And I will do it with your body. The war between you and Dianamon will prove most glorious…a battle like none other, between two siblings who are very much out of their league." Marsmon finally glanced towards the ceiling, "Flybeemon, where are the children now?"

Flybeemon dropped down from her hiding place to salute Marsmon. "Four are currently within the walls and feasting. The other four are outside for the moment. Split up like this it will be extremely easy to deal with them sire." Marsmon smirked. Indeed it would be very easy to slaughter the children and their pathetic partners. They were not yet in possession of their greater gifts. Still, Marsmon partly wished they were. A slaughter was nowhere near as much fun as a true battle between equals. But, he had a plan to fulfill and he had pieces to put into motion.

"Very well. See to it that our outside group does not wander too far off. The party, after all, is only about to start." Marsmon's gaze shifted to his fallen king. He gestured with his hand and the dark red flames around Apollomon shifted as if moved by wind that was unfelt by anything else in the room. Apollomon rose a moment later, his face blank. "It is time. Your opponents await you in the dining hall. Go."

Apollomon turned and left.

* * *

><p>When Apollomon said feast he <em>literally<em> meant feast. Even by a bottomless pit's standards like Guilmon or Agumon there was more than enough food. The digimon had to practically wipe the drool off the floor or they'd slip as they rushed to their seats. The boys, meanwhile, exchanged amused looks. After all, some things never changed no matter what world you'd come from. "Hey! Save some for those of us who aren't pigs," Terriermon shouted as he quickly followed the two dinosaurs. The humans weren't far behind and their fears, for the moment, were forgotten. Tai and Matt knew from their own experiences that food was sometimes hard to come by on an adventure like this and quickly dug in without much worry. Takato and Henry didn't waste much time either, although none of them ate with as much enthusiasm as Agumon and Guilmon.

A few minutes passed and the initial excitement had started to die down. Henry was the first to notice that their host had yet to join them as he looked up and down the very large table. "Apollomon hasn't gotten here yet." The other boys looked up.

"You don't think he got lost in his own castle do you," Matt replied sarcastically.

"Maybe his meeting is taking longer than he thought it would," Takato suggested.

Tai frowned thoughtfully. He didn't really like the absence of Apollomon, especially since they were supposed to be keeping an eye on him. It wouldn't look very good to the others if they weren't doing their job. Tai leaned back in his chair and looked over to Coronamon who was still hanging around as their guide. "Hey, do you know what's taking Apollomon?"

Coronamon simply shrugged. He didn't seem very pleased with Tai and the others. "My master has many important matters to attend to. He cannot be expected to entertain his guests every second of every day."

Takato and Tai exchanged look, "Uh…but isn't that the point of having guests and being a host?"

If Coronamon had a reply for Takato it was lost in the sound of an explosion from the kitchens. The boys jumped and probably would have gone to investigate, but there was no need. The wall exploded outwards and debris flew across the dining area. Two Flaremon flew through the wall and crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, unconscious. Guilmon's eyes dilated and he growled dangerously at the hole they had created. "Something big is coming."

That was an understatement. Apollomon stepped forward with very little concern apparent on his face. Coronamon looked stunned, not sure what was happening. "Lord Apollomon?" He made a move to approach him.

Henry's eyes widened, he seemed to realize what was happening before anyone else, "Coronamon, no, wait!"

"Phoebus Blow." The attack was a whisper and Apollomon punched the ground with his fists coated in the dark red flames. Coronamon immediately burst into data and was no more. Apollomon didn't even blink. He lifted his fist and his vacant eyes moved to gaze at the boys around the table.

The boys were stunned. While they had imagined Apollomon might betray _them_, they hadn't pictured him destroying his own people. Something was wrong about this situation, but they weren't going to get much of a chance to analyze the situation. Apollomon threw his head back and howled and it was a sound somewhere between a man's scream and the roar of a mighty lion. Tai felt like his knees were going to buckle. There was no way they were going to be able to handle this guy. His eyes flicked to Matt and the others. They seemed just as terrified and unsure about what to do. Coronamon was wiped out very easily and that could just as easily turn into one of them or their partners. Tai swallowed and clenched his fist. There was no helping it. They'd just have to try.

"Guys…"

"Guilmon digivolve to….Growlmon!"

"Terriermon digivolve to…Gargomon!"

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"

The dining hall immediately filled with the larger forms of the partner digimon. The boys stood behind their partners, but they didn't feel safe. They were about to fight an opponent they couldn't possibly take down. Apollomon tilted his head and then slowly approached the four. He seemed to know this was going to be easy.

* * *

><p>Koji, Takuya, Daisuke, and Ken had been trying to gather information from digimon around Muspelheim City but so far there was very little. Most of the digimon either loved Apollomon or simply didn't have an opinion of their lord. They got very little negative feedback and none of the digimon seemed to know what they were talking about when they asked about digimon being tortured or hurt outside of the city.<p>

Koji kicked a wall in frustration after the tenth digimon they'd questioned. "It's like they're completely blind to events happening outside of the city."

"For all we know they could be. It's like a media blackout," observed Ken.

"But how's he getting all those forces to attack if no one knows anything about it," Veemon asked.

"They could be coming from inside the castle. We'll have to leave that up to Tai and the others," was Ken's answer.

Daisuke sighed, folding his hands behind his head, "Well if we're not getting answers maybe we should find something to eat. I don't know about you guys but I'm starved." The others reluctantly agreed, turning to head back to one of the food stalls they had seen a few streets over.

It probably would have been good food too and it would have given the boys a good chance to develop a strategy. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by screams and an explosion. All four of them froze in their tracks and immediately turned towards the castle. Eyes widened as they realized there were several fires and suddenly one of the castle walls exploded. Before they knew it they were running towards the castle. They had no idea what was happening but all of them were thinking of the friends they had left in Apollomon's care and how stupid it was to split the team.

The carnage in front of the castle was terrible. There were digimon scattered everywhere and some were eroding into data even as they approached. What they weren't prepared for though was the sight of Apollomon casually dragging Growlmon and Greymon behind him by their tails. It was like he was taking out two heavy bags of garbage. Garurumon, Gargomon, and the four other boys were nowhere in sight. Ken went pale at the sight, taking a step back out of fear. Daisuke reached out and put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. He had to stay strong or else Ken would feel him shaking too. It was one thing to know you were facing a strong opponent…it was another to see Apollomon's power. But, it wasn't in Daisuke's nature to show fear…not at a time like this.

Koji and Takuya pulsed with light and fire aura before it burst from them out of control. They called out to their spirit evolutions and shifted in front of Ken and Daisuke into Lobomon and Agunimon. The two Legendary Warriors rushed forward in the hopes of rescuing Greymon and Growlmon from Apollomon, but the digimon merely threw the two dinosaur digimon _at_ them. There was a spectacular crash as Agunimon and Lobomon attempted to brace themselves in catching the much larger dinosaurs but with little success. Greymon and Growlmon collapsed on top of the two humanoid digimon, effectively burying them. Apollomon's dark red flames danced around him and he started to walk towards his pile of victims.

"Gargo Pellets!" Bullets sprayed between the digimon pile and Apollomon. He stopped walking and turned towards the attack. The bullets bounced off his chest but Daisuke still felt himself relax slightly. Tai, Matt, Henry, and Takato were safe on Garurumon and Gargomon was there to help distract Apollomon.

"We need to run!" Matt shouted at them, jerking his head towards the city's gate.

Daisuke's hand went for his pocket, about to get Raidramon out and hopefully get another ride to help in escape. Ken, however, was still looking at Matt. Ken was the only one that noticed the figure looming behind them and he pointed, "Matt! Behind you!"

Suddenly Garurumon was grabbed by his tail and yanked backwards like he was only a puppy and not an overly large wolf. The force of the pull yanked him right out from his riders and Matt and the others tumbled to the ground and fell at the feet of the large beast man digimon looming over them. He threw Garurumon down to the pile with a cool smirk. Daisuke's hand clenched into fist, "Who the heck is that guy!"

The new opponent smirked, crossing his arms. He seemed to hear Daisuke even over the screams of fleeing digimon and groans coming from the pile of their friends. Marsmon bared his pointed teeth at them in what could best be described as a grin. "I am Marsmon. I am the Digimon of War. I am the one in control of Apollomon at the moment. And I am going to slaughter you children."


	14. Episode 14: The Sword of Valor

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews and the patience. I know it's been a long time coming...but here is the continuation of the story. I will have Episode 15 completed shortly. Good news is that this story arc is almost done.

* * *

><p><strong>(Episode 14: The Sword of Valor)<strong>

Muspelheim City burned that day and digimon died. Destruction and death were everywhere and the digimon of the city were at a complete loss for words. Why was Apollomon attacking his own people? Where were his generals or his armies to fight him and protect the weak? It was like a nightmare and none of them had ever imagined it would come to this. Marsmon stood over it all, still near the castle and the fallen chosen. He had sent his servant on his way. It was time for Apollomon to not only bring down his own kingdom, but Dianamon's as well. "Two powers shall fall on this day…and I will be there to build on their ashes."

Marsmon grinned and turned back to the children and their defeated digimon. As he had hoped they were starting to get up from their pile. "Yes. I have heard about you children. I have even seen your battles in this realm. I want to have a good fight and if you die now it will not be the fun I was promised." The general was not one for mercy either. He was going to make the children and their partners suffer and he was going to enjoy doing so. War would happen and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. "Come. Who shall be first to fight? Or shall I give you a warm up? I realize Apollomon might not have been the best of hosts." He chuckled at his own joke.

Agunimon was the first to get back onto his feet. Greymon and Growlmon had both been taken out of the picture and reverted to their normal forms of Agumon and Guilmon. That made it a lot easier to get back up and Lobomon was rising to his feet as well. "What…have you done to Apollomon," Agunimon finally asked. It hadn't been Apollomon he had mistrusted after all, it was something inside him. Agunimon had sensed it. He knew that now and he had a feeling it had something to do with this digimon…but he just didn't know what.

Marsmon snorted. "Tell you what. You defeat some of my subordinates and I just might answer your questions. As many of you may join in the battle it matters not to me." The general then snapped his fingers and dark pillars of fire shot down from the heavens. There were five, then ten, and then twenty in total and by the end of it there were fifty points of dark fire surrounding Lobomon and Agunimon. The two warriors moved to stand back to back as the flames burned.

"Lobomon! Agunimon get out of there!" Tai shouted, just now getting to his feet. Agumon was draped in his arms and groaning in pain. Tai looked down at his partner, "Agumon. Are you going to be okay?" Takato, too, held Guilmon towards him and was soon joined by Henry and Matt. The two boys looked grim and held their own Rookie digimon as well. Gabumon and Terriermon were at least conscious.

Suddenly a voice to the right called out, "Hey! You guys forget about us?" The boys and Marsmon all turned and saw Daisuke and Ken both holding up their digivices as Wormmon and Veemon rushed forward towards the circle of dark flames. Not everyone had been taken out in the first round it seemed. As they ran, light shot out of the duo's digivices and hit the digimon.

"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"

The larger digimon leapt over the flaming pillars and landed into the mix with Agunimon and Lobomon, also standing back to back. Agunimon smirked, "I was starting to wonder what Daisuke was doing."

"Well we can't let you guys have all the fun," Exveemon replied.

Marsmon simply shrugged. He had said they could bring in as many as they want. He snapped his fingers again and the dark fire withered and shifted into the shapes of various digimon forms. There were DarkLizamon, Meramon, and Firamon all made from the same dark flames and sharing black eyes. It would probably remind Ken and Daisuke of the Control Spire digimon they had fought before. Ken's hand tightened on his own digivice at the memory of it. "Defeat these digimon and I will answer some questions. Of course, then I'll have to have you fight some more. But this should certainly buy me the time that I need to put my other pieces into place." He snapped his fingers a third time and the living flame digimon all sprang forward towards their four opponents.

Fire sprang around Agunimon's limbs as he twirled on his feet and hit the first wave of DarkLizamon coming towards him with a combination of his fists and feet. Lobomon lunged forward as well, twin beams of light pulled from the hilts on his back and slashing through a group of Meramon. It was like watching a dance as the Warrior of Fire and the Warrior of Light spun, punched, and slashed at their opponents. Their backs just barely touching and they never tripped the other up. While they may have been out numbered they were experienced and had the spirits of true warriors to face such odds.

Meanwhile, ExVeemon and Stingmon jumped into the air at the same time as the group of Firamon. The aerial side of the battle could be handled by them since they could fly. ExVeemon brought his arms to his chest and released a piercing beam of light, shooting through a Firamon flying down towards Lobomon. The pink blade on Stingmon's wrist pulsed as it plunged in and out of a Firamon's back and data began to rain down as the two fliers took down the Firamon.

Outside of the battle ring the others were collecting themselves. Marsmon was preoccupied with those who could still fight and seemed to not be giving the other boys any mind. Probably in his opinion they were no threat and could be dealt with at his leisure. Tai tore his gaze away from the fight and to those who were with him. Takato, Henry, and Matt were in one piece, though a little bruised. Gabumon and Terriermon were back on their feet and seemed to be itching to head into battle. Tai's gaze drifted down to Agumon who was still out like a light in his arms. He needed to think of something. There was no way they could find Marsmon or Apollomon in their current condition or forms. Thanks to the new rules they didn't have access to the higher forms that would be on par with Marsmon and Apollomon. But why would Yggdrasil summon them here if they couldn't do something?

"Agumon," he whispered, "wake up…we need you."

The last of the dark flame created warriors dropped in defeat, their data drifting back towards Marsmon. ExVeemon and Stingmon stood behind the smaller Agunimon and Lobomon. They were winded and doing their best to hide it. Marsmon merely smirked though. "I thought as much."

Lobomon pointed a blade at Marsmon, "Now answer our question! What have you done with Apollomon!"

"Apollomon and Dianamon have reigned over this area and over their elements for eons. I am here to change that. Yggdrasil's domain is unchanging, unevolving. We digimon are made for evolution and battle. We are made to grow stronger and we cannot do that in this stagnation. So…I changed him." Marsmon's eyes drifted to the castle. "There is a legend, though some call it a prophecy. I am sure you have heard it mentioned. Forces are changing and gathering. Soon there will be more turbulence than you lot have ever experienced in the worlds you hail from and it will be a decisive battle that will reshape the very fabric of the universe. I decided to act in the interest of the strong and begin a war. A war that will bring the first step in returning the Digital World and all worlds to the darkness that started it." Marsmon seemed to be on a roll now and continued, his eyes now locking on to each of the children's, "I am Marsmon. I _am_ War. The legends say that war can only be stopped by one thing and that is the Sword of Valor."

Tai's eyes widened and Marsmon caught the look. "Oh, I'm sure Apollomon showed you the blade. But he is a modest digimon so I am sure he didn't tell you that he is the only one that may touch the sword. His blessing is needed and at the moment Apollomon belongs to me and, more importantly, to the darkness. There is no stopping this, children." Marsmon laughed then and it was filled with confidence. There was no way to stop him and his plan was fool proof. Apollomon could not break free of the darkness and the children had not been given any boons from Yggdrasil. The foolish being had not seen them worthy and now it would be their downfall. "So…I have answered some of your questions then, yes? Time for round two." He snapped his fingers again and more dark flames erupted like before.

Tai closed his eyes as the flames grew bigger and this seemed to trigger something in Tai. He gasped as a vision played before his eyes again. Marsmon's figure turned into a being completely on fire and suddenly Tai was having the dream again. The familiar sword suddenly in his hand as the flaming figure turned to fight him. Tai gripped the sword and felt the power flowing through him and the crest of Courage blazing on his chest. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and everything was as it was before. Tai opened and closed his hand where the sword had been. That was the answer. He knew it. He could almost feel a tugging in his chest in the direction of the castle.

"Tai?"

The original goggle head blinked and looked down. Agumon's eyes were opening and he was looking up at Tai, "Tai…are you okay? I feel strange."

Tai could understand that. He felt strange himself. He nodded, "Fine. We need to run an errand though." He felt like he was on fire, he was so warm. He looked to Matt and the other boys, "I need to go."

"What?!" Most of them said, not believing that Tai wanted to leave now. Henry even said as much, but Matt saw the look in Tai's eyes. He would always trust his friend, even if at the moment he couldn't explain what his friend was doing. "Go," Matt said, holding a hand up to stop the others from protesting, "I'll keep Marsmon preoccupied myself if we need to."

Tai gave his old friend a smile and glanced in Marsmon's direction before jerking his head to Agumon and taking off, away from the sounds of his friends battling for their lives against Marsmon's most recently created hoard. Agumon ran after Tai, confused but not about to question the boy he had followed all of these years. He just knew that a moment ago he'd felt weaker than he'd ever felt before and now he was thrumming with energy. Tai, too, seemed to be glowing with new energy himself. Agumon studied Tai's back. Actually, now that he thought about it was it just the glow of the fires or was Tai _actually_ getting an orange aura around him? Something was going on and Agumon hoped that Tai could explain it because he certainly couldn't.

The castle was deserted now. There were holes and scorch marks everywhere. Tai didn't stop to look. He knew no one would stop him because everyone was fleeing from the slaughter Apollomon was bringing down. He was glad Apollomon had shown him the sword now. Perhaps he hadn't known and Tai still wasn't 100 percent certain this was going to work. However, he was out of options and his gut was telling him this was the way it was supposed to be. Marsmon didn't realize that it didn't HAVE to be Apollomon. It just had to be someone with a lot of Courage. Tai had been given that in spades.

Despite the tug in his chest, Tai slowed as he approached the temple where the sword was placed. Agumon stood at his side, "Are you sure about this Tai? Apollomon said it could burn someone to a crisp if they weren't supposed to touch it."

"Heh, yeah. But you know…it kind of reminds me of the first time you evolved to MetalGreymon. I had to cross that electric fence, remember? My crest didn't activate until I proved myself, until I showed true courage. I think…this is kinda like that." Tai got chills just thinking about that time. He could have died, he knew that now. He'd been pretty stupid back then. But, Tai had also learned that courage meant taking risks. Maybe not stupid risks, but you couldn't always wait to take action. You had to face your fears, even if you knew the action wasn't guaranteed to succeed.

Tai bit his lip. He had doubts. However, he also had more pressing concerns. He'd left his friends to face Marsmon and he needed to get back to them. Tai stepped closer towards the sword, his steps slow at first but as he made himself walk closer his pace became more confident. Tai's shoulders rolled back and he walked towards the sword with purpose. Agumon knew he wasn't imagining it now. There was definitely an orange glow around Tai. Also, while neither could see it because Agumon could only see Tai's back and Tai's eyes were locked on the sword, the crest of courage was glowing on Tai's chest. Tai stretched his hand out to wrap around the sword's hilt and suddenly the temple exploded in burning orange light.

Meanwhile, Marsmon stood over Agunimon who had fallen, panting, to his knees. "Too much Warrior of Flames?" Veemon and Wormmon lay sprawled at Ken and Daisuke's feet and Koji was struggling to stand again. Takuya may have been holding his digimon form but it flickered occasionally. They may have been at Champion levels but it was still a lot to fight over and over like that. It didn't help when Marsmon started bringing in Ultimate level digimon like Flaremon and Asuramon by the dozens.

Agunimon took a deep breath and pushed himself back up, "Bring it Marsmon."

Marsmon raised his hand as if he were about to snap his fingers but then paused and instead backhanded Agunimon. Agunimon didn't even get a chance to yell as he was sent flying. The warrior crashed into a shop and wasn't seen again. Marsmon stepped forward, "I think that's enough games now. It was fun for a while at any rate." His gaze drifted from child to digimon and he nodded to himself, "I think I'll just delete you all now." Marsmon's eyes stopped on Matt and he started walking towards him. Matt took a step back and Gabumon rushed to stand before his partner.

"Stay back."

Marsmon ignored the digimon.

"Blue Blaster!" The blue fire hit Marsmon's cheek and he brushed it off, taking another step forward. He kicked Gabumon away when he was close enough and loomed over Matt. Matt stood tall, trying not to show fear but it was very difficult when you were staring up at a creature that could kill you with a flick of his wrist. However, he also couldn't stand seeing Gabumon kicked aside like that. His hands clenched into fists.

"You bastard!"

Orange light shot up into the sky interrupting them. Everyone, Marsmon included, turned to gape at the light show. The orange light blazed brighter than a star for a moment and Marsmon's eyes bulged. "No…no it's not possible. That's where the Sword of Valor is…but that means. Apollomon!" There was a flash of dark red flames and Marsmon whirled around to find Apollomon had appeared at his side, still very much possessed and not in ownership of the sword. Marsmon stared in confusion. "If Apollomon does not have the sword," he looked back to the light, "then who does?" The orange light began to fade from the sky, but two glowing figures could be seen coming from that direction.

"Terra Force!"

A large, orange ball of energy swooped down and slammed into Apollomon. The digimon was driven back by the power of it as a familiar shape flew overhead and then dropped to the ground. The digimon that landed was glowing with an orange light and so was the kid riding on his shoulder. The kid jumped down, the orange aura glinting from his goggles as he looked up. Tai had come back and he had brought WarGreymon with him.

If that wasn't shocking enough, Tai brought a sword up and rested it on his shoulder like one might rest a baseball bat. Tai looked more confident than he ever had before. His whole body glowed with the orange light and if you looked closely you could see that the light was brightest over his heart where the crest of courage was emblazed. There were so many questions but no one knew where to even begin.

"No," Marsmon hissed, the sight of the sword disturbed him greatly. "No the War hasn't even begun!"

"And it's not going to," Tai replied, lowering the sword and pointing it at Marsmon like he knew what he was doing. Matt knew for a fact that Tai had never held a sword in his life, but that didn't seem to be holding him back now. The sword almost hummed in Tai's hand and Matt had to wonder if maybe the sword was in control now. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd ever seen in the digital world. "WarGreymon…let's do this."

The mega level digimon set his cool green eyes on Apollomon as the digimon struggled to rise and flew forward. Tai kept his gaze on Marsmon, "Step away from Matt and the others and I'll show you a fight." Marsmon snorted and looked back at Matt and the others. He then grinned and grabbed Matt's arm. He pulled the boy towards him, wrapping an arm around Matt's throat and cutting off his air. The others shouted in surprise and Matt struggled to free himself but it was futile.

Tai's eyes narrowed, "Release him."

"Drop the sword." Marsmon's grip tightened and Matt choked but managed to shake his head. Tai couldn't lose their only weapon against Marsmon, not now. To his credit Tai's grip on the sword tightened and that's when something really weird happened. Power flowed through him and the crest glowed brightly before flashing and the light shone as brightly as the sun, which was fitting considering the shape of the crest. Marsmon gasped in pain and the light shot out to envelope Daisuke, Takato, and Takuya. The power from Tai's crest filled each of them and flowed into their partners as well which triggered an evolution for all of them.

Daisuke was first, the orange glow from Tai changing into a brilliant gold and condensing into a familiar shape in his hand. Daisuke knew what to do, holding the heavy metal egg aloft, "Digimental Up!" The golden armor immediately flew to attach to Veemon and he armor evolved to Magnamon.

The power passed to Takato and also condensed into a shape, this time a card. It flashed blue and Takato swiped it through the D-Arc immediately. Guilmon swelled in size with the power from the card and evolved to WarGrowlmon.

Takuya was fused with a new energy as well and it unlocked his ability to access his beast spirit. He shouted out as the power coursed through him and he evolved immediately to Vritramon, towering over Magnamon but still dwarfed by WarGrowlmon's presence.

Still, the aura and power provided by Tai's crest made all the digimon gathered around Marsmon intimidating and an oppressive presence to be near. The glow began to fade to a more reasonable shine and Marsmon dropped Matt who promptly collapsed to the ground unconscious.

And that was when the true fight began. Tai remembered the words he had heard, he knew that only the sword in his hands could bring down Marsmon. He had said so himself. Marsmon knew it too because he immediately rushed at Tai with a roar.

Vritramon was the first to intercept. He was fueled by the power of the crest still and his own renewed strength as the beast digimon. He slammed into Marsmon and drove him off course. Marsmon stumbled but grabbed onto Vritramon and with a twist, hurtled him to the side. Magnamon slid in next, his fists glowing with power as he called out, "Magna Punch!" The fist drove into Marsmon's stomach and actually caused him to grunt in pain. Marsmon's retaliation was swift though and he knocked the fist away before punching Magnamon in the face, determined to get to Tai.

"Apollomon! Lend me your strength!" Marsmon shouted.

While all this had been happening, WarGreymon had been in a heated battle with the other Mega digimon on the field. Apollomon, as soon as he heard Marsmon, whipped his head around and practically flew over the ground to get to Marsmon. WarGreymon, however, was not going to let the fight end that quickly and rushed after him.

Thankfully, another war-themed digimon was there to interfere. WarGrowlmon dropped in front of Apollomon, easily twice the size of the digimon even if he was a lower level. Apollomon did not stop and baralled into the heavy-weight ultimate. WarGrowlmon dug his feet into the ground and pushed back against Apollomon as he struggled to get to Marsmon and Tai. This gave WarGreymon his chance to sweep in. He aimed his claws and swiped at Apollomon's back. Apollomon wasn't going to try to get to Marsmon and not defend himself; he brought his hand up to block the claws and spun away from WarGrowlmon to once again engage WarGreymon.

Marsmon cursed at his lack of support, "You are just a child! Sword or not I WILL come out on top." Marsmon snapped his fingers. He did not want to be overwhelmed. This time he summoned more Ultimate level digimon to him: SkullMeramon, Flaremon, and even a RizeGreymon that towered over everyone. Battles broke out around them but it was obvious that the focus was on Tai and Marsmon.

Tai actually grinned, "Well then…let's see about that."


End file.
